Large N limit of O(N) vector models

We investigate $O(N)$-symmetric vector field theories in the double scaling limit. Our model describes branched polymeric systems in $D$ dimensions, whose multicritical series interpolates between the Cayley tree and the ordinary random walk. We give explicit forms of residual divergences in the free energy, analogous to those observed in the strings in one dimension.

We consider a 4d scalar field coupled to large $N$ free or critical $O(N)$ vector models, either bosonic or fermionic, on a 3d boundary. We compute the $\beta$ function of the classically marginal bulk/boundary interaction at the first non-trivial order in the large $N$ expansion and exactly in the coupling. Starting with the free (critical) vector model at weak coupling, we find a fixed point at infinite coupling in which the boundary theory is the critical (free) vector mod...

Recent interest in large N matrix models in the double scaling limit raised new interest also in O(N) vector models. The limit $N \rightarrow \infty$, correlated with the limit $g \rightarrow g_c$, results in an expansion in terms of filamentary surfaces and explicit calculations can be carried out also in dimensions $d\geq 2$. It is shown here that the absence of physical massless bound states in two dimensions sets strong constraints on this limit.

Four pedagogical Lectures at the NATO-ASI on "Quantum Geometry" in Akureyri, Iceland, August 1999. Contents: 1. O(N) Vector Models, 2. Large-N QCD, 3. QCD in Loop Space, 4. Large-N Reduction

We apply the large-charge expansion to O(N) vector models starting from first principles, focusing on the Wilson-Fisher point in three dimensions. We compute conformal dimensions at zero and finite temperature at fixed charge Q, concentrating on the regime $1 \ll N \ll Q$. Our approach places the earlier effective field theory treatment on firm ground and extends its predictions.

With a view to study the convergence properties of the derivative expansion of the exact renormalization group (RG) equation, I explicitly study the leading and next-to-leading orders of this expansion applied to the Wilson-Polchinski equation in the case of the $N$-vector model with the symmetry $\mathrm{O}(N) $. As a test, the critical exponents $% \eta $ and $\nu $ as well as the subcritical exponent $\omega $ (and higher ones) are estimated in three dimensions for values ...

We discuss the O(2N) vector model in three dimensions. While this model flows to the Wilson-Fisher fixed point when fine tuned, working in a double-scaling limit of large N and large charge allows us to study the model away from the critical point and even to follow the RG flow from the UV to the IR. The crucial observation is that the effective potential -- at leading order in N but exact to all orders in perturbation theory -- is the Legendre transform of the grand potentia...

This is a short summary of the phase structure of vector O(N) symmetric quantum field theories in a singular limit, the double scaling limit.It is motivated by the fact that summing up dynamically triangulated random surfaces using Feynman graphs of the O(N) matrix model results in a genus expansion and it provides,in some sense, a nonperturbative treatment of string theory when the double scaling limit is enforced. The main point emphasized here is that this formal singular ...

O(N) vector sigma models possessing catastrophes in their action are studied. Coupling the limit N --> infinity with an appropriate scaling behaviour of the coupling constants, the partition function develops a singular factor. This is a generalized Airy function in the case of spacetime dimension zero and the partition function of a scalar field theory for positive spacetime dimension.

We present direct representations of the scaling functions of the 3d O(4) model which are relevant for comparisons to other models, in particular QCD. This is done in terms of expansions in the scaling variable z=t/h^{1/\beta\delta}. The expansions around z=0 and the corresponding asymptotic ones for z --> +/- infty, overlap such that no interpolation is needed. We explicitly present the expansion coefficients which have been determined numerically from data of a previous hig...