Table of Contents

What is renormalization?
1: The bedrock problem: why we need renormalization methods
2: Easy applications of renormalization group (RG) to simple models
3: Mean-field theories for simple models
Renormalized perturbation theories (RPT)
4: Perturbation theory using a control parameter
5: Classical nonlinear systems driven by random noise
6: Application of RPT to turbulence and related problems
Renormalization group
7: Setting the scene: critical phenomena
8: Real-space RG
9: Momentum-space RG
10: Field-theoretic RG
11: Dynamical RG applied to classical nonlinear systems
Appendices
A: Statistical ensembles
B: From statistical mechanics to thermodynamics
C: Exact solutions in one and two dimensions
D: Quantum treatment of the Hamiltonian N-body assembly
E: Generalization of the Bogoliubov variational method to a spatially-varying magnetic field

About the Author

Professor William David McComb
Professor of Statistical Physics
University of Edinburgh
Senior Scientific Officer, Theoretical Physics Division, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell (1969-71).
Lecturer, Reader and Professor, Edinburgh University (1971-present time).
Guest Professor, Technical University of Delft, Netherlands (August-November 1997).
Visiting Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge (January-July 1999).

Reviews

`Review from previous edition Renormalization Methods should be an excellent source of material for anyone who plans to lead advanced undergradutes and first-year graduate students beyond the standard course material toward current research topics.
'
Physics Today
`I think this book is the best introductory textbook on techniques of renormalization available. It will be a delight to read for anyone who is encountering the topic for the first time and is wishing to exploit the methods to pass an exam or in one's field.
'
Contemporary Physics