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.
Read more about Statistical Field Theory: References
Famous quotes containing the words field and/or theory:
“Last night I watched my brothers play,
The gentle and the reckless one,
In a field two yards away.
For half a century they were gone
Beyond the other side of care
To be among the peaceful dead.”
—Edwin Muir (1887–1959)
“There could be no fairer destiny for any physical theory than that it should point the way to a more comprehensive theory in which it lives on as a limiting case.”
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955)