Multiple Vacua and Boundary Conditions of Schwinger-Dyson Equations

Abstract

We discuss the relationship between the boundary conditions of the Schwinger-Dyson equations and the phase diagram of a bosonic field theory or matrix model. In the thermodynamic limit, many boundary conditions lead to the same solution, while other boundary conditions have no such limit. The list of boundary conditions for which a thermodynamic limit exists depends on the parameters of the theory. The boundary conditions of a physical solution may be quite exotic, corresponding to path integration over various inequivalent complex contours.