Solution to the 3-Loop $\Phi$-Derivable Approximation for Massless Scalar Thermodynamics

Abstract

We develop a systematic method for solving the 3-loop $\Phi$-derivable approximation to the thermodynamics of the massless $\phi^4$ field theory. The method involves expanding sum-integrals in powers of $g^2$ and m/T, where g is the coupling constant, m is a variational mass parameter, and T is the temperature. The problem is reduced to one with the single variational parameter m by solving the variational equations order-by-order in $g^2$ and m/T. At the variational point, there are ultraviolet divergences of order $g^6$ that cannot be removed by any renormalization of the coupling constant. We define a finite thermodynamic potential by truncating at $5^{th}$ order in g and m/T. The associated thermodynamic functions seem to be perturbatively stable and insensitive to variations in the renormalization scale.