Banks–Zaks fixed point

In quantum chromodynamics (and also N = 1 superquantum chromodynamics) with massless flavors, if the number of flavors, Nf, is sufficiently small (i.e. small enough to guarantee asymptotic freedom, depending on the number of colors), the theory can flow to an interacting conformal fixed point of the renormalization group. If the value of the coupling at that point is less than one (i.e. one can perform perturbation theory in weak coupling), then the fixed point is called a Banks–Zaks fixed point. The existence of the fixed point was first reported by William E. Caswell in 1974, and later used by Banks and Zaks in their analysis of the phase structure of vector-like gauge theories with massless fermions. For this reason one also justifiably finds references to a Caswell-Banks–Zaks fixed point.

More specifically, suppose that we find that the beta function of a theory up to two loops has the form

\beta(g) = -b_0 g^3 + b_1 g^5 + \mathcal{O}(g^7) \,

where b_0 and b_1 are positive constants. Then there exists a value g=g_\ast such that \beta(g_\ast) =0:

g_\ast^2 = \frac{b_0}{b_1}.

If we can arrange b_0 to be smaller than b_1, then we have g^2_\ast <1. It follows that when the theory flows to the IR it is a conformal, weakly coupled theory with coupling g_\ast.

For the case of a non-Abelian gauge theory with gauge group SU(N_c) and Dirac fermions in the fundamental representation of the gauge group for the flavored particles we have

b_0 = \frac{1}{16\pi^2}\frac{1}{3}(11N_c-2N_f) \;\;\;\; \text{ and }\;\;\;\; b_1 = -\frac{1}{(16\pi^2)^2}\left(\frac{34}{3}N_c^2 - \frac{1}{2}N_f\left(2 \frac{N_c^2 -1}{N_c} + \frac{20}{3}N_c \right) \right)

where N_c is the number of colors and N_f the number of flavors. Then N_f should lie just below \tfrac{11}{2}N_c in order for the Banks–Zaks fixed point to appear. Note that this fixed point only occurs if, in addition to the previous requirement on N_f (which guarantees asymptotic freedom),

\frac{11}{2}N_c>N_f>\frac{68N_c^2}{(16+20N_c)}

where the lower bound comes from requiring b_1>0. This way b_1 remains positive while -b_0 is still negative (see first equation in article) and one can solve \beta (g) = 0 with real solutions for g.

See also

References