Abstract
We describe how Wilson’s concept of the renormalization group revolutionized our understanding of the physics of phase transitions, and of quantum field theory in general. We underline the key ideas of Wilson, based on earlier ideas of Landau, Ginzburg, Kadanoff and many others, which gave us an insight into the observed universality of diverse physical phenomena, and the remarkable efficacy of a few simple models to describe them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Suggested Reading
S Sastry, Scaling Concepts in Describing Continuous Phase Transitions, Resonance, Vol.21, No.10, pp.875–898, 2016.
K G Wilson and ME Fisher, Critical Exponents in 3.99 Dimensions, Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol.28, pp.240–243, Jan 1972.
E Brezin, Wilson’s Renormalization Group: A Paradigmatic Shift, ar**v:1402.3437.
J C Le Guillou and J Zinn-Justin, Phys. Rev. B, Vol.21, p.3976, 1980, (with some values updated from J Zinn-Justin, Chapter 27, as reprinted in Quantum Field Theory, by Peskin and Schroeder).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Gautam Mandal works in the Department of Theoretical Physics, TIFR, Mumbai. He finished his PhD from TIFR in 1989 and did postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton. His research and teaching involve various topics in quantum field theory, string theory, gravitational physics and statistical mechanics.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mandal, G. The Wilsonian revolution in statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Reson 22, 15–36 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0430-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0430-0