A statistical field theory is any model in statistical mechanics where the degrees of freedom comprise a field or fields. In other words, the microstates of the system are expressed through field configurations. It is closely related to quantum field theory, which describes the quantum mechanics of fields, and shares with it many phenomena, such as renormalization. If the system involves polymers, it is also known as polymer field theory.
In fact, by performing a Wick rotation from Minkowski space to Euclidean space, many results of statistical field theory can be applied directly to its quantum equivalent. The correlation functions of a statistical field theory are called Schwinger functions, and their properties are described by the Osterwalder–Schrader axioms.
Statistical field theories are widely used to describe systems in polymer physics or biophysics, such as polymer films, nanostructured block copolymers or polyelectrolytes.
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Other articles related to "fields, theory, statistical field theory, field theory, statistical":
... Haroon Ahmed, British Pakistani scientist in the fields of Microelectronics and electrical engineering ... programming in 1953, and important contributions in other fields of mathematics ... for demonstrating acquired immune tolerance and developing the theory of clonal selection ...
... Mukherjee has developed a rigorous finite – temperature field theory to study Statistical Mechanics of Many-Body systems ... Thermofield Dynamics formulations, which maps a finite temperature theory to a zero-temperature one, the method has the advantage of working directly with the physical variables in the ...
... Statistical Field Theory volumes I and II (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) by Claude Itzykson, Jean-Michel Drouffe, Publisher Cambridge University Press (March 29, 1991) ISBN 0-521-40806 ...
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