UV Fixed Point

UV Fixed Point

In a quantum field theory, one may calculate an effective or running coupling constant that defines the coupling of the theory measured at a given momentum scale. One example of such a coupling constant is the electric charge. In approximate calculations in several quantum field theories, notably quantum electrodynamics and theories of the Higgs particle, the running coupling appears to become infinite at a finite momentum scale. This is sometimes called the Landau pole problem. It is not known whether the appearance of these inconsistencies is an artifact of the approximation, or a real fundamental problem in the theory. However, the problem can be avoided if an ultraviolet or UV fixed point appears in the theory. A quantum field theory has a UV fixed point if its renormalization group flow approaches a fixed point in the ultraviolet (i.e. short length scale/large energy) limit. This is related to zeroes of the beta-function in the Callan-Symanzik equation.

The large length scale/small energy limit counterpart is the infrared fixed point.

Read more about UV Fixed Point:  Specific Cases and Details, Asymptotic Safety Scenario in Quantum Gravity

Famous quotes containing the words fixed and/or point:

    The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an earldom.... He was fixed in the house of lords, that hospital of incurables, and his retreat to popularity was cut off; for the confidence of the public, when once great and once lost, is never to be regained.
    Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)

    The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.
    C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)