The renormalization group (RG) has nowadays achieved the status of a meta-theory, which is a theory about theories. The theory of the RG consists of a set of concepts and methods which can be used to understand phenomena in many different ?elds of physics, ranging from quantum ?eld theory over classical statistical mechanics to nonequilibrium phenomena. RG methods are particularly useful to understand phenomena where ?uctuations involving many different length or time scales lead to the emergence of new collective behavior in complex many-body systems. In view of the diversity of ?elds where RG methods have been successfully applied, it is not surprising that a variety of apparently different implementations of the RG idea have been proposed. Unfortunately, this makes it somewhat dif?cult for beginners to learn this technique. For example, the ?eld-theoretical formulation of the RG idea looks at the ?rst sight rather different from the RG approach pioneered by Wilson, the latter being based on the concept of the effective action which is ite- tively calculated by successive elimination of the high-energy degrees of freedom. Moreover, the Wilsonian RG idea has been implemented in many different ways, depending on the particular problem at hand, and there seems to be no canonical way of setting up the RG procedure for a given problem.

This book, based on a graduate course given by the authors, is a pedagogic and self-contained introduction to the renormalization group with special emphasis on the functional renormalization group. The functional renormalization group is a modern formulation of the Wilsonian renormalization group in terms of formally exact functional differential equations for generating functionals. In Part I the reader is introduced to the basic concepts of the renormalization group idea, requiring only basic knowledge of equilibrium statistical mechanics. More advanced methods, such as diagrammatic perturbation theory, are introduced step by step. Part II then gives a self-contained introduction to the functional renormalization group. After a careful definition of various types of generating functionals, the renormalization group flow equations for these functionals are derived. This procedure is shown to encompass the traditional method of the mode elimination steps of the Wilsonian renormalization group procedure. Then, approximate solutions of these flow equations using expansions in powers of irreducible vertices or in powers of derivatives are given. Finally, in Part III the exact hierarchy of functional renormalization group flow equations for the irreducible vertices is used to study various aspects of non-relativistic fermions, including the so-called BCS-BEC crossover, thereby making the link to contemporary research topics.

There have been many recent and important developments based on effective field theory and the renormalization group in atomic, condensed matter, nuclear and high-energy physics. These powerful and versatile methods provide novel approaches to study complex and strongly interacting many-body systems in a controlled manner. The six extensive lectures gathered in this volume combine selected introductory and interdisciplinary presentations focused on recent applications of effective field theory and the renormalization group to many-body problems in such diverse fields as BEC, DFT, extreme matter, Fermi-liquid theory and gauge theories. Primarily aimed at graduate students and junior researchers, they offer an opportunity to explore fundamental physics across subfield boundaries at an early stage in their careers.

A self-contained pedagogical introduction to asymptotic safety and the functional renormalization group in quantum gravity, for graduate students and researchers.

This is a primer on a mathematically rigorous renormalisation group theory, presenting mathematical techniques fundamental to renormalisation group analysis such as Gaussian integration, perturbative renormalisation and the stable manifold theorem. It also provides an overview of fundamental models in statistical mechanics with critical behaviour, including the Ising and φ4 models and the self-avoiding walk. The book begins with critical behaviour and its basic discussion in statistical mechanics models, and subsequently explores perturbative and non-perturbative analysis in the renormalisation group. Lastly it discusses the relation of these topics to the self-avoiding walk and supersymmetry. Including exercises in each chapter to help readers deepen their understanding, it is a valuable resource for mathematicians and mathematical physicists wanting to learn renormalisation group theory.

This monograph is the first to present the recently discovered renormalization techniques for the Schrödinger and Dirac equations, providing a mathematically rigorous, yet simple and clear introduction to the subject. It develops field-theoretic techniques such as Feynman graph expansions and renormalization, taking pains to make all proofs as simple as possible by using generating function techniques throughout. Renormalization is performed by using an exact renormalization group differential equation, a technique that provides simple but complete proofs of the theorems.

Covering the elementary aspects of the physics of phases transitions and the renormalization group, this popular book is widely used both for core graduate statistical mechanics courses as well as for more specialized courses. Emphasizing understanding and clarity rather than technical manipulation, these lectures de-mystify the subject and show precisely "how things work." Goldenfeld keeps in mind a reader who wants to understand why things are done, what the results are, and what in principle can go wrong. The book reaches both experimentalists and theorists, students and even active researchers, and assumes only a prior knowledge of statistical mechanics at the introductory graduate level.Advanced, never-before-printed topics on the applications of renormalization group far from equilibrium and to partial differential equations add to the uniqueness of this book.

This new expanded second edition has been totally revised and corrected. The reader finds two complete new chapters. One covers the exact solution of the finite temperature Schwinger model with periodic boundary conditions. This simple model supports instanton solutions – similarly as QCD – and allows for a detailed discussion of topological sectors in gauge theories, the anomaly-induced breaking of chiral symmetry and the intriguing role of fermionic zero modes. The other new chapter is devoted to interacting fermions at finite fermion density and finite temperature. Such low-dimensional models are used to describe long-energy properties of Dirac-type materials in condensed matter physics. The large-N solutions of the Gross-Neveu, Nambu-Jona-Lasinio and Thirring models are presented in great detail, where N denotes the number of fermion flavors. Towards the end of the book corrections to the large-N solution and simulation results of a finite number of fermion flavors are presented. Further problems are added at the end of each chapter in order to guide the reader to a deeper understanding of the presented topics. This book is meant for advanced students and young researchers who want to acquire the necessary tools and experience to produce research results in the statistical approach to Quantum Field Theory.

An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory is a textbook intended for the graduate physics course covering relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, and Feynman diagrams. The authors make these subjects accessible through carefully worked examples illustrating the technical aspects of the subject, and intuitive explanations of what is going on behind the mathematics. After presenting the basics of quantum electrodynamics, the authors discuss the theory of renormalization and its relation to statistical mechanics, and introduce the renormalization group. This discussion sets the stage for a discussion of the physical principles that underlie the fundamental interactions of elementary particle physics and their description by gauge field theories.

The subject of the exact renormalization group started from pioneering work by Wegner and Houghton in the early seventies and, a decade later, by Polchinski, who formulated the Wilson renormalization group for field theory. In the past decade considerable progress has been made in this field, which includes the development of alternative formulations of the approach and of powerful techniques for solving the exact renormalization group equations, as well as widening of the scope of the exact renormalization group method to include fermions and gauge fields. In particular, two very recent results, namely the manifestly gauge-invariant formulation of the exact renormalization group equation and the proof of the c-theorem in four dimensions, are presented in this volume.