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N. Wschebor

Publications and source records attributed to N. Wschebor.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2020

The nonperturbative functional renormalization group and its applications

The renormalization group plays an essential role in many areas of physics, both conceptually and as a practical tool to determine the long-distance low-energy properties of many systems on the one hand and on the other hand search for viable ultraviolet completions in fundamental physics. It provides us with a natural framework to study theoretical models where degrees of freedom are correlated over long distances and that may exhibit very distinct behavior on different energy scales. The nonperturbative functional renormalization-group (FRG) approach is a modern implementation of Wilson's RG, which allows one to set up nonperturbative approximation schemes that go beyond the standard perturbative RG approaches. The FRG is based on an exact functional flow equation of a coarse-grained effective action (or Gibbs free energy in the language of statistical mechanics). We review the main approximation schemes that are commonly used to solve this flow equation and discuss applications in equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium statistical physics, quantum many-particle systems, high-energy physics and quantum gravity.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2018

Naturally light scalar particles: a generic and simple mechanism

The hierarchy problem in the Standard Model is usually understood as both a technical problem of stability of the calculation of the quantum corrections to the masses of the Higgs sector and of the unnatural difference between the Planck and gauge breaking scales. Leaving aside the gauge sector, we implement on a purely scalar model a mechanism for generating naturally light scalar particles where both of these issues are solved. In this model, on top of terms invariant under a continuous symmetry, a highly non-renormalizable term is added to the action that explicitly breaks this symmetry down to a discrete one. In the spontaneously broken phase, the mass of the pseudo-Goldstone is then driven by quantum fluctuations to values that are non-vanishing but that are generically, that is, without fine-tuning, orders of magnitude smaller than the UV scale.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2015

Two-loop study of the deconfinement transition in Yang-Mills theories: SU(3) and beyond

We study the confinement-deconfinement phase transition of pure Yang-Mills theories at finite temperature using a simple massive extension of standard background field methods. We generalize our recent next-to-leading-order perturbative calculation of the Polyakov loop and of the related background field effective potential for the SU(2) theory to any compact and connex Lie group with a simple Lie algebra. We discuss in detail the SU(3) theory, where the two-loop corrections yield improved values for the first-order transition temperature as compared to the one-loop result. We also show that certain one-loop artifacts of thermodynamical observables disappear at two-loop order, as was already the case for the SU(2) theory. In particular, the entropy and the pressure are positive for all temperatures. Finally, we discuss the groups SU(4) and Sp(2) which shed interesting light, respectively, on the relation between the (de)confinement of static matter sources in the various representations of the gauge group and on the use of the background field itself as an order parameter for confinement. In both cases, we obtain first-order transitions, in agreement with lattice simulations and other continuum approaches.

hep-th↗
arXiv2014

Deconfinement transition in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory: A two-loop study

In a recent work we have proposed a perturbative approach for the study of the phase transition of pure Yang-Mills theories at finite temperature. This is based on a simple massive extension of background field methods in the Landau-DeWitt gauge, where the gluon mass term is related to the existence of Gribov ambiguities. We have shown that a one-loop calculation of the background field effective potential describes well the phase structure of the SU(2) and SU(3) theories. Here, we present the calculation of the next-to-leading-order contribution in perturbation theory for the SU(2) case. In particular, we compute the background field effective potential at two-loop order and the corresponding Polyakov loop, a gauge invariant order parameter of the transition, at one-loop order. We show that the two-loop correction brings the critical temperature closer to its actual value as compared to the previous one-loop result. We also compute the thermodynamic pressure as a function of the temperature and show that two-loop contributions play an important role in the vicinity of the phase transition.

hep-th↗
arXiv2014

Deconfinement transition in SU(N) theories from perturbation theory

We consider a simple massive extension of the Landau-DeWitt gauge for SU($N$) Yang-Mills theory. We compute the corresponding one-loop effective potential for a temporal background gluon field at finite temperature. At this order the background field is simply related to the Polyakov loop, the order parameter of the deconfinement transition. Our perturbative calculation correctly describes a quark confining phase at low temperature and a phase transition of second order for $N=2$ and weakly first order for $N=3$. Our estimates for the transition temperatures are in qualitative agreement with values from lattice simulations or from other continuum approaches. Finally, we discuss the effective gluon mass parameter in relation to the Gribov ambiguities of the Landau-DeWitt gauge.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Yang-Mills correlators at finite temperature: A perturbative perspective

We consider the two-point correlators of Yang-Mills theories at finite temperature in the Landau gauge. We employ a model for the corresponding Yang-Mills correlators based on the inclusion of an effective mass term for gluons. The latter is expected to have its origin in the existence of Gribov copies. One-loop calculations at zero temperature have been shown to agree remarkably well with the corresponding lattice data. We extend on this and perform a one-loop calculation of the Matsubara gluon and ghost two-point correlators at finite temperature. We show that, as in the vacuum, an effective gluon mass accurately captures the dominant infrared physics for the magnetic gluon and ghost propagators. It also reproduces the gross qualitative features of the electric gluon propagator. In particular, we find a slight nonmonotonous behavior of the Debye mass as a function of temperature, however not as pronounced as in existing lattice results. A more quantitative description of the electric sector near the deconfinement phase transition certainly requires another physical ingredient sensitive to the order parameter of the transition.

hep-th↗
arXiv2011

Non-perturbative renormalization group preserving full-momentum dependence: implementation and quantitative evaluation

We present in detail the implementation of the Blaizot-M\'endez-Wschebor (BMW) approximation scheme of the nonperturbative renormalization group, which allows for the computation of the full momentum dependence of correlation functions. We discuss its signification and its relation with other schemes, in particular the derivative expansion. Quantitative results are presented for the testground of scalar O(N) theories. Besides critical exponents which are zero-momentum quantities, we compute in three dimensions in the whole momentum range the two-point function at criticality and, in the high temperature phase, the universal structure factor. In all cases, we find very good agreement with the best existing results.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2008

Solutions of renormalization group flow equations with full momentum dependence

We demonstrate the power of a recently-proposed approximation scheme for the non-perturbative renormalization group that gives access to correlation functions over their full momentum range. We solve numerically the leading-order flow equations obtained within this scheme, and compute the two-point functions of the O(N) theories at criticality, in two and three dimensions. Excellent results are obtained for both universal and non-universal quantities at modest numerical cost.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2006

Non perturbative renormalisation group and momentum dependence of $n$-point functions (I)

We present an approximation scheme to solve the Non Perturbative Renormalization Group equations and obtain the full momentum dependence of the $n$-point functions. It is based on an iterative procedure where, in a first step, an initial ansatz for the $n$-point functions is constructed by solving approximate flow equations derived from well motivated approximations. These approximations exploit the derivative expansion and the decoupling of high momentum modes. The method is applied to the O($N$) model. In leading order, the self energy is already accurate both in the perturbative and the scaling regimes. A stringent test is provided by the calculation of the shift $ΔT_c$ in the transition temperature of the weakly repulsive Bose gas, a quantity which is particularly sensitive to all momentum scales. The leading order result is in agreement with lattice calculations, albeit with a theoretical uncertainty of about 25%.

hep-th↗
arXiv2002

The Gross-Neveu model at finite temperature at next to leading order in the 1/N expansion

We present new results on the Gross-Neveu model at finite temperature and at next-to-leading order in the 1/N expansion. In particular, a new expression is obtained for the effective potential which is explicitly invariant under renormalization group transformations. The model is used as a playground to investigate various features of field theory at finite temperature. For example we verify that, as expected from general arguments, the cancellation of ultraviolet divergences takes place at finite temperature without the need for introducing counterterms beyond those of zero-temperature. As well known, the discrete chiral symmetry of the 1+1 dimensional model is spontaneously broken at zero temperature and restored, in leading order, at some temperature T_c; we find that the 1/N approximation breaks down for temperatures below T_c: As the temperature increases, the fluctuations become eventually too large to be treated as corrections, and a Landau pole invalidates the calculation of the effective potential in the vicinity of its minimum. Beyond T_c, the 1/N expansion becomes again regular: it predicts that in leading order the system behaves as a free gas of massless fermions and that, at the next-to-leading order, it remains weakly interacting. In the limit of large temperature, the pressure coincides with that given by perturbation theory with a coupling constant defined at a scale of the order of the temperature, as expected from asymptotic freedom.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2002

Confinement and Mass Gap in Abelian Gauge

First, we present a simple confining abelian pure gauge theory. Classically, its kinetic term is not positive definite, and it contains a simple UV regularized F^4 interaction. This provoques the formation of a condensate ~ F^2 such that, at the saddle point of the effective potential, the wave function normalization constant of the abelian gauge fields vanishes exactly. Then we study SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory in an abelian gauge and introduce an additional auxiliary field for a BRST invariant condensate of dimension 2, which renders the charged sector massive. Under simple assumptions its effective low energy theory reduces to the confining abelian model discussed before, and the vev of rho is seen to scale correctly with the renormalization point. Under these assumptions, the confinement condition Z_eff = 0 also holds for the massive charged sector, which suppresses the couplings of the charged fields to the abelian gauge bosons in the infrared regime.

hep-th↗
arXiv2002

Massive Yang-Mills Theory in Abelian Gauges

We prove the perturbative renormalisability of pure SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in the abelian gauge supplemented with mass terms. Whereas mass terms for the gauge fields charged under the diagonal U(1) allow to preserve the standard form of the Slavnov-Taylor identities (but with modified BRST variations), mass terms for the diagonal gauge fields require the study of modified Slavnov-Taylor identities. We comment on the renormalization group equations, which describe the variation of the effective action with the different masses. Finite renormalized masses for the charged gauge fields, in the limit of vanishing bare mass terms, are possible provided a certain combination of wave function renormalization constants vanishes sufficiently rapidly in the infrared limit.

hep-th↗
arXiv2001

Confinement with Kalb - Ramond Fields

We consider models with N U(1) gauge fields A_μ^n, N Kalb-Ramond fields B_{μν}^n, an arbitrary bare action and a fixed UV cutoff Λ. Under mild assumptions these can be obtained as effective low energy theories of SU(N+1) Yang Mills theories in the maximal abelian gauge. For a large class of bare actions they can be solved in the large N limit and exhibit confinement. The confining phase is characterized by an approximate ``low energy'' vector gauge symmetry under which the Kalb-Ramond fields B_{μν}^n transform. The same symmetry allows for a duality transformation showing that magnetic monopoles have condensed. The models allow for various mechanisms of confinement, depending on which sources for A_μ^n or B_{μν}^n are switched on, but the area law for the Wilson loop is obtained in any case.

hep-th↗
arXiv2001

Solvable Confining Gauge Theories at Large N

In this letter we consider models with N U(1) gauge fields together with N Kalb-Ramond fields in the large N limit. These models can be solved explicitely and exhibit confinement for a large class of bare actions. The confining phase is characterized by an approximate "low energy" vector gauge symmetry under which the Kalb-Ramond fields transform. A duality transformation shows that confinement is associated with magnetic monopoles condensation.

hep-th↗