The notion of renormalization is at the core of several spectacular achievements of contemporary physics, and in the last years powerful techniques have been developed allowing to put renormalization on a firm mathematical basis. This book provides a self-consistent and accessible introduction to the sophisticated tools used in the modern theory of non-perturbative renormalization, allowing an unified and rigorous treatment of Quantum Field Theory, Statistical Physics and Condensed Matter models. In particular the first part of this book is devoted to Constructive Quantum Field Theory, providing a mathematical construction of models at low dimensions and discussing the removal of the ultraviolet and infrared cut-off, the verification of the axioms and the validity of Ward Identities with the relative anomalies. The second part is devoted to lattice 2D Statistical Physics, analyzing in particular the theory of universality in perturbed Ising models and the computation of the non-universal critical indices in Vertex or Ashkin-Teller models. Finally the third part is devoted to the analysis of complex quantum fluids showing Luttinger of Fermi liquid behavior, like the 1D or 2D Hubbard model.

There have been many recent and important developments based on effective field theory and the renormalization group in atomic, condensed matter, nuclear and high-energy physics. These powerful and versatile methods provide novel approaches to study complex and strongly interacting many-body systems in a controlled manner. The six extensive lectures gathered in this volume combine selected introductory and interdisciplinary presentations focused on recent applications of effective field theory and the renormalization group to many-body problems in such diverse fields as BEC, DFT, extreme matter, Fermi-liquid theory and gauge theories. Primarily aimed at graduate students and junior researchers, they offer an opportunity to explore fundamental physics across subfield boundaries at an early stage in their careers.

Differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) provide an essential tool for system modeling and analysis within different fields of applied sciences and engineering. This book addresses modeling issues and analytical properties of DAEs, together with some applications in electrical circuit theory. Beginning with elementary aspects, the author succeeds in providing a self-contained and comprehensive presentation of several advanced topics in DAE theory, such as the full characterization of linear time-varying equations via projector methods or the geometric reduction of nonlinear systems. Recent results on singularities are extensively discussed. The book also addresses in detail differential-algebraic models of electrical and electronic circuits, including index characterizations and qualitative aspects of circuit dynamics. In particular, the reader will find a thorough discussion of the state/semistate dichotomy in circuit modeling. The state formulation problem, which has attracted much attention in the engineering literature, is cleverly tackled here as a reduction problem on semistate models.

During the past 15 years, quantum field theory and classical statistical mechanics have merged into a single field, and the need for nonperturbative methods for the description of critical phenomena in statistical mechanics as well as for problems in elementary particle physics are generally acknowledged. Such methods formed the central theme of the 1987 Cargese Advanced Study Institut. e on "Nonpert. urbat. ive Quantum Field Theory." The use of conformal symmet. ry has been of central interest in recent years, and was a main subject at. t. he ASI. Conformal invariant quantum field theory describes statistical mechanical systems exactly at a critical point, and can be analysed to a remarkable ext. ent. by group t. heoretical methods. Very strong results have been obtained for 2-dimensional systems. Conformal field theory is also the basis of string theory, which offers some hope of providing a unified t. heory of all interactions between elementary particles. Accordingly, a number of lectures and seminars were presented on these two topics. After syst. ematic introductory lectures, conformal field theory on Riemann surfaces, orbifolds, sigma models, and application of loop group theory and Grassmannians were discussed, and some ideas on modular geometry were presented. Other lectures combined' traditional techniques of constructive quant. um field theory with new methods such as the use of index-t. heorems and infinite dimensional (Kac Moody) symmetry groups. The problems encountered in a quantum mechanical description of black holes were discussed in detail.

This Brief presents an introduction to the theory of the renormalization group in the context of quantum field theories of relevance to particle physics. Emphasis is placed on gaining a physical understanding of the running of the couplings. The Wilsonian version of the renormalization group is related to conventional perturbative calculations with dimensional regularization and minimal subtraction. An introduction is given to some of the remarkable renormalization group properties of supersymmetric theories.

Providing a new perspective on quantum field theory, this book is useful for graduate students and researchers within and outside the field. It describes non-perturbative methods, and explores two-dimensional and four-dimensional gauge dynamics using those methods. Applications are thoroughly described.

Proceedings of a NATO ASI and Isaac Newton Institute Workshop held in Cambridge, UK, June 23-July 4, 1997