Comparison of symmetry breaking in the canonical and microcanonical ensembles

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Annals of Physics (New York); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-4916(89)90357-6· OSTI ID:5354439

Arthur Weldon, H ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506 (US)

High temperature field theories have always been formulated in the canonical ensemble (i.e., fixed {ital T}). Here the same theories are investigated in the microcanonical ensemble (i.e., fixed total energy {ital E}). To incorporate spontaneous symmetry breaking a microcanonical analogue of the effective potential is developed. There is a critical value of the energy {ital E}{sub {ital c}} which separates the broken from the unbroken phase. Explicit one loop calculations in the two ensembles allow for detailed comparisons and lead to agreement in the limit {ital VT}{sup 3}{r arrow}{infinity}. {copyright} 1989 Academic Press, Inc.

• OSTI ID: 5354439
• Journal Information: Annals of Physics (New York); (USA), Vol. 193:1; ISSN 0003-4916
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
SYMMETRY BREAKING
BOLTZMANN STATISTICS
HAMILTONIANS
MASS
PARTITION FUNCTIONS
PERTURBATION THEORY
SCALAR FIELDS
FIELD THEORIES
FUNCTIONS
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS
QUANTUM OPERATORS
645400* - High Energy Physics- Field Theory