Using the Renormalization Group Functions to Uniquely Determine the Effective Potential in Massless Scalar Electrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the effective potential in massless scalar electrodynamics can be uniquely determined using renormalization group functions, extending previous results from scalar models and employing characteristic methods.

Contribution

The work extends the determination of the effective potential from scalar models to scalar electrodynamics using renormalization group functions and characteristic methods.

Findings

Effective potential is fully determined by RG functions.

Method applies to leading and next-to-leading log contributions.

Extension from scalar models to scalar electrodynamics.

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that the effective potential V(\phi) in a massless O(N) \lambda \phi^4_4 model is determined completely by the renormalization group functions provided the renormalization condition \frac{d^4V}{d \phi^4}|_{\phi=\mu}=\lambda is used. This is shown to also hold in massless scalar electrodynamics. By employing a variant of the method of characteristics, the sums contributing to the leading-log, next-to-leading-log etc. contributions to V(\phi) can be evaluated.