ENGLISH

Conformal Invariance and Critical Phenomena

By Professor Dr. Malte Henkel (auth.)

Book information

Publisher
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year
1999
ISBN
978-3-642-08466-9, 978-3-662-03937-3
DOI
10.1007/978-3-662-03937-3
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
15 MB (15676316 bytes)
Series
Texts and Monographs in Physics
Edition
1
Pages
418\432
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2013-08-01 04:00:00
Dynamical Systems and Complexity;Numerical and ComMathematical Methods in Physics;Statistical Physic

Description

This book provides an introduction to conformal field theory and a review of its applications to critical phenomena in condensed-matter systems. After reviewing simple phase transitions and explaining the foundations of conformal invariance and the algebraic methods required, it proceeds to the explicit calculation of four-point correlators. Numerical methods for matrix diagonalization are described as well as finite-size scaling techniques and their conformal extensions. Many exercises are included. Applications treat the Ising, Potts, chiral Potts, Yang-Lee, percolation and XY models, the XXZ chain, linear polymers, tricritical points, conformal turbulence, surface criticality and profiles, defect lines and aperiodically modulated systems, persistent currents and dynamical scaling. The vicinity of the critical point is studied culminating in the exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model at the critical temperature in a magnetic field. Relevant experimental results are also reviewed.

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