Statistical field theories : [proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Statistical Field Theories, Como, Italy, 18-23 June 2001

Recent developments in theoretical physics include new instances of the unification of quite different phenomena. The theoretical community is challenged by the growing interactions between high-energy physics, statistical physics, and condensed matter physics. The common language, though, is exact solutions of two-dimensional and conformable field theories. This volume is a faithful representation of this interdisciplinary domain. Conformable and integrable field theories have been active research topics for several decades. The main recent developments concern the boundary effects and applications to disordered systems. The number of applications of the exact methods to condensed-matter problems has been growing over the years. Nowadays it is widely recognized that strongly interacting systems in low dimensions can be successfully described by integrable and conformable theories. This volume is an indispensable aid to those seeking to find their way in this domain. Front Matter....Pages i-x Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Field Theory of Scaling Lattice Models: The Potts Antiferromagnet....Pages 3-12 The ODE/IM Correspondence and PT -Symmetric Quantum Mechanics....Pages 13-23 The Combinatorics of Alternating Tangles: From Theory To Computerized Enumeration....Pages 25-31 On The Sine-Gordon One-Point Functions....Pages 33-45 On Vertex Operators and The Normalization of Form Factors....Pages 47-56 Integrable Chain Models With Staggered R-Matrices....Pages 57-66 On The Quantization of Affine Jacobi Varieties of Spectral Curves....Pages 67-78 Rational Conformal Field Theory In Four Dimensions....Pages 79-89 Perturbed Conformal Field Theory on A Sphere....Pages 91-104 Front Matter....Pages 105-116 Two-Boundary Integrability and The Josephson Current In A Luttinger Liquid....Pages 117-117 Coupling The Sine-Gordon Field Theory to a Mechanical System at the Boundary....Pages 119-128 Reflection Amplitudes and Expectation Values of Fields In Integrable Boundary Theories....Pages 129-137 Integrable Boundary Conditions for the O(N) Nonlinear Sigma Model....Pages 139-151 Verlinde Nim-Reps for Charge Conjugate SL ( N ) WZW Theory....Pages 153-160 Open-String Models with Broken Supersymmetry....Pages 161-170 Conformal Boundary Conditions and 3D Topological Field Theory....Pages 171-184 The Spectrum of Boundary Sine-Gordon Theory....Pages 185-194 Front Matter....Pages 195-204 A Classification of Non-Hermitian Random Matrices....Pages 205-205 The Stress Tensor In Quenched Random Systems....Pages 207-214 Front Matter....Pages 215-222 Taking N → 0 with S Matrices....Pages 205-205 Scattering in Quantum Field Theories With Supergroup Invariance....Pages 223-237 Nishimori Point in Random-Bond Ising and Potts Models in 2D....Pages 239-249 2 D Random Dirac Fermions: Large N Approach....Pages 251-261 Front Matter....Pages 263-275 Impurities in One Dimension....Pages 277-277 Axions, Quantum Mechanical Pumping, and Primeval Magnetic Fields....Pages 279-288 Paired and Clustered Quantum Hall States....Pages 289-303 Integrability and Conformal Symmetry in the BCS Model....Pages 305-316 Wavefunction Statistics at the Quantum Hall Critical Point....Pages 317-328 Aharonov-Bohm Effect in the Quantum Hall Regime and Laplacian Growth Problems....Pages 329-335 Back Matter....Pages 337-349 ....Pages 351-351

More than two-dozen contributions from international researchers report on the state of the art in statistical field theories. They discuss new methods of solution, including current developments in conformal field theory. Other topics include, for example, boundary effects in integrable models and condensed matter systems with quenched disorder. The volume concludes with a section devoted mostly to the quantum Hall effect and its many facets. The editors are with the National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Italy. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The description of statistical systems nearby their phase transition points is one of the most stimulating applications of quantum field theory.