Archive | 2021
The renormalization group in curved space
Abstract
As the main purpose of renormalization is not to remove divergences but to get essential information about the finite part of effective action, this chapter discusses some of the existing methods of solving this problem; such methods can be denoted the renormalization group. First, the minimal subtraction renormalization group in curved space is formulated. Next, the chapter shows how the overall μ\u200e-independence of the effective action enables one to interpret μ\u200e-dependence in some situations. As an example, the effective potential is restored from the renormalization group and compared with the expression calculated directly in chapter 13. In addition, the global conformal (scaling) anomaly is derived from the renormalization group.