Stochastic formulation of the renormalization group supersymmetric structure and topology o
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arXiv:hep-th/0404212v1 27 Apr 2004Stochasticformulationoftherenormalizationgroup:
supersymmetricstructureandtopology
ofthespaceofcouplings
Jos´eGaite
InstitutodeMatem´aticasyF´ısicaFundamental,CSIC,Serrano123,28006Madrid,Spain
19April2004
Abstract
TheexactorWilsonrenormalizationgroupequationscanbeformulatedasa
functionalFokker-Planckequationintheinfinite-dimensionalconfigurationspaceof
afieldtheory,suggestingastochasticprocessinthespaceofcouplings.Indeed,
theordinaryrenormalizationgroupdifferentialequationscanbesupplementedwith
noise,makingthemintostochasticLangevinequations.Furthermore,iftherenor-
malizationgroupisagradientflow,thespaceofcouplingscanbeendowedwitha
supersymmetricstructurealaParisi-Sourlas.Theformulationoftherenormalization
groupassupersymmetricquantummechanicsisusefulforanalysingthetopologyof
thespaceofcouplingsbymeansofMorsetheory.Wepresentsimpleexampleswith
oneortwocouplings.
1Introduction
Theconceptoftherenormalizationgrouparoseinquantumelectrodynamicsandwas
soonappliedtootherquantumfieldtheoriesandlatertocriticalphemomena.With
theapplicationoftherenormalizationgroup(RG)toseveralcouplings,itbecame
clearthatitcouldhaveinterestingfeaturesasasystemofautonomousordinary
differentialequationsand,inparticular,thatthetopologyoftheRGtrajectories
shouldplayacrucialrole[1].Thesimplesttopologiescorrespondtotrajectories
thatfollowthegradientofsomepotential.ThisgradientRGflowhypothesiswas
discussedinRef.[2].Withthegeneralizationofthishypothesistotheexistenceof
anirreversibleRGfunction,afterZamolodchikovc-theoremintwodimensions[3],it
hasbeenthesubjectofnumerouspapers(asarepresentativesample,see[4,5,6]).
However,thestudyofthetopologyofthespaceofcouplingsofafieldtheoryis
stillinitsinfancy.EvenundertheassumptionofgradientRGflow(orirreversibleRG
function)veryfewgeneralresultsexist.Intwodimensionstheproblemhasreceived
moreattention,becauseofthepowerfulmethodsprovidedbyconformalsymmetry
1andtheconnectionwithstringtheory.Aparticularlyinterestingdevelopmentin
thisregardistherelationwithsupersymmetricquantummechanics(SUSYQM)and
Morsetheory,twoconceptswhichwereconnectedinWitten’sseminalpapers[7],
independentlyoftheRG.
Das,MandalandWadiaproposedtheconnectionoftwo-dimensionalRGequa-
tionswithstochasticquantizationandsupersymmetricquantummechanicsinthe
contextofstringtheory[8].Themotivationwasthattwo-dimensionalquantumfield
theoriesarethebasisoffirstquantized(“classical”)stringtheoryandthefieldequa-
tionsaregivenbyconformalinvariance,thatis,bythevanishingoftheβ-functions
correspondingtolow-energyfields,whichplaytheroleofcouplings.Therefore,the
interpolationbetweenRGfixedpoints,givenbytheRGflow,representsthetran-
sitionbetweenstringtheorysolutions,andapotentialfortheflowisalsoalow-
energystringpotential.Inthiscontext,itisnaturaltointroducesupersymmetry
inthespaceofcouplings,nowlow-energyfields.Theunderlyingsupersymmetryof
stochasticquantizationhadbeendiscoveredearlierbyParisiandSourlas[9](fora
systematictreatment,see[10]).Inthestringtheorycontext,itisnaturaltoassume
thatthefieldshaveastochasticcharacterand,infact,thischaractercorrespondsto
quantizedstringfieldtheory,thatis,tosecond-quantizedstringtheory.
AdifferentpointofviewwasadoptedbyVafa[11],regardingthetopologyof
thespaceoftwo-dimensionalquantumfieldtheoriesasgivenbyZamolodchikov’s
c-functionwhenconsideredasaMorsefunction.
Weadopthereamoregeneralstandpoint:thefieldtheoriesneednotbetwo-
dimensionaland,hence,neednothaverelationwithstringtheory.Supersymmetry
inthespaceofcouplingsisjustaconvenientmathematicalstructuretostudythe
topologicalstructureofthisspace,followingthespiritofWitten’spaper“Supersym-
metryandMorseTheory”[7].Nevertheless,onecanalsoprovidearationalefor
aninterpretationoftheRGinconnectionwithstochasticquantization,independent
ofstringtheory.ItarisesformtheexactformulationoftheRG(includingevery
coupling)whichgivesrisetoafunctionalFokker-Planckequation.
SowebeginbydescribingtheexactRGanddescribingitsfunctionalequation
asaFokker-Planckequation.ThenwerestrictourselvestotheusualRGinafinite
spaceofcouplingsandexaminewhenitcanbeconsideredagradientflow.Inthis
regard,onemusttakeintoaccountthefreedominthechoiceofmetricaswellas
thefreedominthechoiceofcoordinates.Next,assumingagradientRGflow,we
maketheconnectionwithSUSYQM.Finally,wereviewWitten’sreinterpretationof
MorsetheoryasSUSYQMandshowsomeapplicationsofMorsetheorytosimple
examplesofRGflow.
2Theexactrenormalizationgroup
WhenonesaysthatoneisinterestedindefiningthetheoryatthescaleL,oneis,first
ofall,redefiningthefieldφtothatscale,bymeansofanaveragingwithasuitable
kernel:
φL(r)=KL(r−x)φ(x).(1)
2