Physics – High Energy Physics – High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Scientific paper
2000-05-26
Physics
High Energy Physics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Lecture notes, Saclay preprint, 65 pages, hyperTeX, with private macros
Scientific paper
In these notes we review some properties of Statistical Quantum Field Theory at equilibrium, i.e Quantum Field Theory at finite temperature. We explain the relation between finite temperature quantum field theory in (d,1) dimensions and statistical classical field theory in d+1 dimensions. This identification allows to analyze the finite temperature QFT in terms of the renormalization group and the theory of finite size effects of the classical theory. We discuss in particular the limit of high temperature (HT) or the situation of finite temperature phase transitions. There the concept of dimensional reduction plays an essential role. Dimensional reduction in some sense reflects the known property that quantum effects are not important at high temperature. We illustrate these ideas with several standard examples, phi^4 field theory, the non-linear sigma model and the Gross-Neveu model, gauge theories. We construct the corresponding effective reduced theories at one-loop order, using the technique of mode expansion of fields in the imaginary time variable. In models where the field is a vector with N components, the large N expansion provides another specially convenient tool to study dimensional reduction.
No associations
LandOfFree
Quantum Field Theory at Finite Temperature: An Introduction does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Quantum Field Theory at Finite Temperature: An Introduction, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Quantum Field Theory at Finite Temperature: An Introduction will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-707116