Absence of Asymptotic Freedom in Non-Abelian Models

Abstract

The percolation properties of equatorial strips of the two dimensional O(3) nonlinear $\sigma$ model are investigated numerically. Convincing evidence is found that a sufficently narrow strip does not percolate at arbitrarily low temperatures. Rigorous arguments are used to show that this result implies both the presence of a massless phase at low temperature and lack of asymptotic freedom in the massive continuum limit. A heuristic estimate of the transition temperature is given which is consistent with the numerical data.