Mass generation at a fixed point: A Functional Renormalization Group Study of the tricritical O($N$) model in $d=3$ and $N=\infty$

Abstract

Renormalization group (RG) fixed points are commonly associated with scale invariance and a divergent correlation length. We show that this connection can fail in the tricritical $O(N)$ model in three dimensions in the limit $N\to\infty$. Revisiting the line of fixed points identified by Bardeen, Moshe, and Bander, we use the functional renormalization group to clarify the mechanism leading to mass generation at its singular endpoint (the BMB fixed point). We demonstrate that the generated mass is nonuniversal and originates from the nonanalytic structure of the effective potential. We show that the critical exponent $ν$ which takes the value $ν= 1/2$ along the regular part of the BMB line, that is, for $0 \leq λ< λ_{\rm BMB}$, jumps to $ν= 1/3$ on the singular part of this line with the BMB FP, corresponding to $λ= λ_{\rm BMB}$, being the pivotal point between these two regimes. We also show how its singular potential emerges dynamically along the renormalization flow.