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