The decoupling theorem in effective scalar field theory

Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Annals of Physics (New York)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1006/aphy.1995.1067· OSTI ID:110904

Ball, R D ^[1]; Thorne, R S ^[2]

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1. CERN, Geneve (Switzerland)
2. Rutherford Appleton Lab., Oxon (United Kingdom)

We consider decoupling in the context of an effective quantum field theory of two scalar fields with well separated mass scales and a Z{sub 2} x Z{sub 2} symmetry. We first prove, using Wilson`s exact renormalization group equation, that the theory is renormalizable, in the same way that we showed in a previous paper that theories with a single mass scale renormalizable. We then state and prove a decoupling theorem: at scales below the mass of the heavy particle the full theory may be approximated arbitrarily closely by an effective theory of the light particle alone, with naturalness scale the heavy particle mass. We also compare our formulation of effective field theory with the more conventional local formulation. 11 refs.

• OSTI ID: 110904
• Journal Information: Annals of Physics (New York), Journal Name: Annals of Physics (New York) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 241; ISSN 0003-4916; ISSN APNYA6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
DECOUPLING
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
RENORMALIZATION
SCALAR FIELDS