Width of the longitudinal magnon in the vicinity of the O(3) quantum critical point

We consider a three-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet in the vicinity of a quantum critical point separating the magnetically ordered and the magnetically disordered phases. A specific example is TlCuCl$_3$ where the quantum phase transition can be driven by hydrostatic pressure and/or by external magnetic field. As expected two transverse and one longitudinal magnetic excitation have been observed in the pressure driven magnetically ordered phase. According to the experimental data, the longitudinal magnon has a substantial width, which has not been understood and has remained a puzzle. In the present work, we explain the mechanism for the width, calculate the width and relate value of the width with parameters of the Bose condensate of magnons observed in the same compound. The method of an effective quantum field theory is employed in the work.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Interfacial Tensions near Critical Endpoints: Experimental Checks of EdGF Theory

Predictions of the extended de Gennes-Fisher local-functional theory for the universal scaling functions of interfacial tensions near critical endpoints are compared with experimental data. Various observations of the binary mixture isobutyric acid $+$ water are correlated to facilitate an analysis of the experiments of Nagarajan, Webb and Widom who observed the vapor-liquid interfacial tension as a function of {\it both} temperature and density. Antonow's rule is confirmed and, with the aid of previously studied {\it universal amplitude ratios}, the crucial analytic ``background'' contribution to the surface tension near the endpoint is estimated. The residual singular behavior thus uncovered is consistent with the theoretical scaling predictions and confirms the expected lack of symmetry in $(T-T_c)$. A searching test of theory, however, demands more precise and extensive experiments; furthermore, the analysis highlights, a previously noted but surprising, three-fold discrepancy in the magnitude of the surface tension of isobutyric acid $+$ water relative to other systems.Comment: 6 figure

Ordered phase and scaling in ZnZ_n models and the three-state antiferromagnetic Potts model in three dimensions

Based on a Renormalization-Group picture of $Z_n$ symmetric models in three dimensions, we derive a scaling law for the $Z_n$ order parameter in the ordered phase. An existing Monte Carlo calculation on the three-state antiferromagnetic Potts model, which has the effective $Z_6$ symmetry, is shown to be consistent with the proposed scaling law. It strongly supports the Renormalization-Group picture that there is a single massive ordered phase, although an apparently rotationally symmetric region in the intermediate temperature was observed numerically.Comment: 5 pages in REVTEX, 2 PostScript figure

The Epstein-Glaser approach to pQFT: graphs and Hopf algebras

The paper aims at investigating perturbative quantum field theory (pQFT) in the approach of Epstein and Glaser (EG) and, in particular, its formulation in the language of graphs and Hopf algebras (HAs). Various HAs are encountered, each one associated with a special combination of physical concepts such as normalization, localization, pseudo-unitarity, causality and an associated regularization, and renormalization. The algebraic structures, representing the perturbative expansion of the S-matrix, are imposed on the operator-valued distributions which are equipped with appropriate graph indices. Translation invariance ensures the algebras to be analytically well-defined and graded total symmetry allows to formulate bialgebras. The algebraic results are given embedded in the physical framework, which covers the two recent EG versions by Fredenhagen and Scharf that differ with respect to the concrete recursive implementation of causality. Besides, the ultraviolet divergences occuring in Feynman's representation are mathematically reasoned. As a final result, the change of the renormalization scheme in the EG framework is modeled via a HA which can be seen as the EG-analog of Kreimer's HA.Comment: 52 pages, 5 figure

Lattice QCD without topology barriers

As the continuum limit is approached, lattice QCD simulations tend to get trapped in the topological charge sectors of field space and may consequently give biased results in practice. We propose to bypass this problem by imposing open (Neumann) boundary conditions on the gauge field in the time direction. The topological charge can then flow in and out of the lattice, while many properties of the theory (the hadron spectrum, for example) are not affected. Extensive simulations of the SU(3) gauge theory, using the HMC and the closely related SMD algorithm, confirm the absence of topology barriers if these boundary conditions are chosen. Moreover, the calculated autocorrelation times are found to scale approximately like the square of the inverse lattice spacing, thus supporting the conjecture that the HMC algorithm is in the universality class of the Langevin equation.Comment: Plain TeX source, 26 pages, 4 figures include

Critical adsorption at chemically structured substrates

We consider binary liquid mixtures near their critical consolute points and exposed to geometrically flat but chemically structured substrates. The chemical contrast between the various substrate structures amounts to opposite local preferences for the two species of the binary liquid mixtures. Order parameters profiles are calculated for a chemical step, for a single chemical stripe, and for a periodic stripe pattern. The order parameter distributions exhibit frustration across the chemical steps which heals upon approaching the bulk. The corresponding spatial variation of the order parameter and its dependence on temperature are governed by universal scaling functions which we calculate within mean field theory. These scaling functions also determine the universal behavior of the excess adsorption relative to suitably chosen reference systems

From quantum to classical dynamics: The relativistic O(N)O(N) model in the framework of the real-time functional renormalization group

We investigate the transition from unitary to dissipative dynamics in the relativistic $O(N)$ vector model with the $\lambda (\varphi^{2})^{2}$ interaction using the nonperturbative functional renormalization group in the real-time formalism. In thermal equilibrium, the theory is characterized by two scales, the interaction range for coherent scattering of particles and the mean free path determined by the rate of incoherent collisions with excitations in the thermal medium. Their competition determines the renormalization group flow and the effective dynamics of the model. Here we quantify the dynamic properties of the model in terms of the scale-dependent dynamic critical exponent $z$ in the limit of large temperatures and in $2 \leq d \leq 4$ spatial dimensions. We contrast our results to the behavior expected at vanishing temperature and address the question of the appropriate dynamic universality class for the given microscopic theory.Comment: 32 pages, 12 captioned figures; revised and extended version accepted for publication in PR

The O(N) Nonlinear Sigma Model in the Functional Schr\"{o}dinger Picture

We present a functional Schr\"{o}dinger picture formalism of the (1+1)-dimensional $O(N)$ nonlinear sigma model. The energy density has been calculated to two-loop order using the wave functional of a gaussian form, and from which the nonperturbative mass gap of the boson fields has been obtained. The functional Schr\"{o}dinger picture approach combined with the variational technique is shownto describe the characteristics of the ground state of the nonlinear sigma model in a transparent way.Comment: 13 pages, no figures, Latex fil

1D generalized statistics gas: A gauge theory approach

A field theory with generalized statistics in one space dimension is introduced. The statistics enters the scene through the coupling of the matter fields to a statistical gauge field, as it happens in the Chern-Simons theory in two dimensions. We study the particle-hole excitations and show that the long wave length physics of this model describes a gas obeying the Haldane generalized exclusion statistics. The statistical interaction is found to provide a way to describe the low-T critical properties of one-dimensional non-Fermi liquids.Comment: 8 pages, revte