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[Old] Renormalization: Why Bigger is Simpler

Broken Symmetries 35,706 2 years ago
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A new version of this with typos corrected is available here: https://youtu.be/9vFbyHNz-8g A submission to #SoME2. A short introduction to renormalization techniques as they appear in statistical physics, aiming to simplify the mathematics as much as possible. The goal is to explain why matter becomes simpler as you zoom out from the microscopic, and how this leads naturally to phase transitions. Text version to follow. 00:00 Introduction 02:13 States and probabilities 03:16 The Gibbs distribution 03:56 Course-graining 05:05 Hamiltonians 06:30 Renormalization calculation 07:38 Details of calculation 09:45 Renormalized coefficients 10:44 Renormalization flow 12:18 Fixed points 13:30 Particle physics 14:09 Phase transitions 15:42 Summary 16:19 Closing https://www.brokensymmetries.com

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