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The inverse coupling constants run with $\log(E)$, where $E$ is the energy or four-momentum.

Some coupling constants increase, some decrease with $\log(E)$.

Is there a simple argument that explains why the running follows $\log(E)$ and not another function of energy?

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  • $\begingroup$ I think you are talking of the strong interaction coupling constant used to be able to describe with a quantum field theory the strong colored force. Weak , electromagnetic and gravity couplings are constant. Here is a review arxiv.org/abs/1604.08082 $\endgroup$
    – anna v
    Commented Feb 11, 2022 at 18:41
  • $\begingroup$ @annav All the couplings run. The fine-structure constant has a measured value close to 1/127 near 90 GeV en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… (which in turn references arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0201198) $\endgroup$
    – Andrew
    Commented Feb 11, 2022 at 18:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Andrew thanks, I will read up. $\endgroup$
    – anna v
    Commented Feb 11, 2022 at 20:12

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A flippant answer to your question is that you can parameterize the energy dependence using any function you want to. If you want to know how the RG flow acts on an operator, the way to proceed is to calculate the RG flow equations for that operator and solve them. I suppose we can restate your question as, "can you give me a plausible reason, without actually solving the equations, why the RG equations should have solutions that grow like logs"? Here is at least an attempt at that version of the question.

Consider an operator in the Lagrangian with naive or engineering mass dimension $\Delta$. For example, the mass squared parameter $m^2$ in the Lagrangian has an engineering dimension $\Delta=2$, while the coefficient of a $\phi^4$ interaction (call it $\lambda$) has dimension $\Delta=0$.

The dimension of an operator $\mathcal{O}$ (or of a parameter like $\lambda$ or $m^2$) tells us how the size of that operator scales with energy \begin{equation} \mathcal{O}(E) = \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\Delta_{\mathcal{O}}} \mathcal{O}(E_0) \end{equation} where $E$ is energy, $E_0$ is a reference energy scale, and $\Delta_\mathcal{O}$ is the dimension.

The net effect of the renormalization group is the modify the scaling dimension of an operator \begin{equation} \Delta_{\mathcal O} = \Delta^{\rm cl.}_\mathcal{O} + \hbar \Delta^{(1)}_\mathcal{O} + \cdots \end{equation} where $\Delta_\mathcal{O}^{\rm cl.}$ is the classical or naive or engineering dimension of the operator, based on dimensional analysis, and $\hbar^n \Delta_{\mathcal{O}}^{(n)}$ refers to $n$-loop corrections.

Assuming the quantum corrections are small compared the classical dimension, we can Taylor expand \begin{eqnarray} \frac{\mathcal{O}(E) }{\mathcal{O}(E_0) } &=& \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\Delta_{\mathcal{O}}} \\ &=& \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\Delta^{\rm cl.}_{\mathcal{O}}} \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\hbar \Delta^{(1)}_{\mathcal{O}}} \\ &=& \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\Delta^{\rm cl.}_{\mathcal{O}}} \exp\left(\log\left(\left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\hbar \Delta^{(1)}_{\mathcal{O}}} \right)\right) \\ &=& \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\Delta^{\rm cl.}_{\mathcal{O}}} \exp\left(\hbar \Delta^{(1)}_{\mathcal{O}} \log\left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right) \right) \\ &=& \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{\Delta^{\rm cl.}_{\mathcal{O}}} \left(1 + \hbar \Delta^{(1)}_{\mathcal{O}} \log\left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right) + \cdots\right) \end{eqnarray} Therefore, the corrections to the classical scaling (sometimes called the naive dimension or engineering dimension) will tend to be logarithmic in energy, provided that $\Delta^{(1)}_\mathcal{O}$ is not a strong function in energy (which it is often not, in practice). This is particularly apparent if $\Delta^{\rm cl}_\mathcal{O}=0$, in other words for a (classically) dimensionless operator, since then the quantum corrections dominate the energy dependence. (Strictly speaking this sentence violates the assumption I made above that the quantum corrections are small compared to the classical dimension... well -- this answer is just a sketch, not a rigorous argument, but when you do look at beta functions it is interesting to look at the corrections to dimensionless operators).

Of course this is very sketchy and handwavy. It is only meant to convey a plausibility argument that logarithmic running is sensible. To really understand this, you should look at real examples of beta functions and try to solve the RG flow.

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  • $\begingroup$ Beatiful - this is really insightful. Thank you. $\endgroup$
    – user85598
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 4:48
  • $\begingroup$ I am still thinking about your fascinating answer. Can I ask why exactly the renormalization group changes the scaling dimension of an operator? You write that this is due to the loops. Is there a similarly simple way to see that loops have the effect of changing the operator dimension? $\endgroup$
    – user85598
    Commented Feb 13, 2022 at 19:58
  • $\begingroup$ @Christian An example is the electron charge, or the closely related fine-structure constant alpha. Classically this is just a number that doesn't change with scale; you know that the renormalization group causes this coupling to depend on energy, which means that the dimension of alpha has changed due to quantum effects. One physical picture people give of this, is that the electron pulls electron-positron pairs out of the quantum vacuum, and these effectively screen the electron charge. As you get closer to the electron (higher energies), the screening effect decreases, and alpha increases. $\endgroup$
    – Andrew
    Commented Feb 13, 2022 at 20:16
  • $\begingroup$ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… $\endgroup$
    – Andrew
    Commented Feb 13, 2022 at 20:18
  • $\begingroup$ This is all well known. But why does the renormalization group modify the scaling dimension in precisely the way you mentioned above? $\endgroup$
    – user85598
    Commented Feb 14, 2022 at 20:39