Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with spatially correlated noise: a unified picture from nonperturbative renormalization group

Unpredicted Scaling of the One-Dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang Equation

The celebrated Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation describes the kinetic roughening of stochastically growing interfaces. In one dimension, the KPZ equation is exactly solvable and its statistical properties are known to an exquisite degree. Yet recent numerical simulations in the tensionless (or inviscid) limit of the KPZ equation [C. Cartes et al., The Galerkin-truncated Burgers equation: Crossover from inviscid-thermalized to Kardar-Parisi-Zhang scaling, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 380, 20210090 (2022).PTRMAD1364-503X10.1098/rsta.2021.0090; E. Rodríguez-Fernández et al., Anomalous ballistic scaling in the tensionless or inviscid Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation, Phys. Rev. E 106, 024802 (2022).PRESCM2470-004510.1103/PhysRevE.106.024802] unveiled a new scaling, with a critical dynamical exponent z=1 different from the KPZ one z=3/2. In this Letter, we show that this scaling is controlled by a fixed point which had been missed so far and which corresponds to an infinite nonlinear coupling. Using the functional renormalization group (FRG), we demonstrate the existence of this fixed point and show that it yields z=1. We calculate the correlation function and associated scaling function at this fixed point, providing both a numerical solution of the FRG equations within a reliable approximation, and an exact asymptotic form obtained in the limit of large wave numbers. Both scaling functions accurately match the one from the numerical simulations.

One Fixed Point Can Hide Another One: Nonperturbative Behavior of the Tetracritical Fixed Point of O(N) Models at Large N

We show that at N=∞ and below its upper critical dimension, d<d_{up}, the critical and tetracritical behaviors of the O(N) models are associated with the same renormalization group fixed point (FP) potential. Only their derivatives make them different with the subtleties that taking their N→∞ limit and deriving them do not commute and that two relevant eigenperturbations show singularities. This invalidates both the ε-and the 1/N-expansions. We also show how the Bardeen-Moshe-Bander line of tetracritical FPs at N=∞ and d=d_{up} can be understood from a finite-N analysis.

Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class in (d+1)-dimensions

The determination of the exact exponents of the KPZ class in any substrate dimension d is one of the most important open issues in Statistical Physics. Based on the behavior of the dimensional variation of some exact exponent differences for other growth equations, I find here that the KPZ growth exponents (related to the temporal scaling of the fluctuations) are given by β_{d}=7/8d+13. These exponents present an excellent agreement with the most accurate estimates for them in the literature. Moreover, they are confirmed here through extensive Monte Carlo simulations of discrete growth models and real-space renormalization group (RG) calculations for directed polymers in random media (DPRM), up to d=15. The left-tail exponents of the probability density functions for the DPRM energy provide another striking verification of the analytical result above.

Critical Probability Distributions of the Order Parameter from the Functional Renormalization Group

We show that the functional renormalization group (FRG) allows for the calculation of the probability distribution function of the sum of strongly correlated random variables. On the example of the three-dimensional Ising model at criticality and using the simplest implementation of the FRG, we compute the probability distribution functions of the order parameter or, equivalently, its logarithm, called the rate functions in large deviation theory. We compute the entire family of universal scaling functions, obtained in the limit where the system size L and the correlation length of the infinite system ξ_{∞} diverge, with the ratio ζ=L/ξ_{∞} held fixed. It compares very accurately with numerical simulations.

Incompleteness of the large-N analysis of the O(N) models: Nonperturbative cuspy fixed points and their nontrivial homotopy at finite N

We summarize the usual implementations of the large-N limit of O(N) models and show in detail why and how they can miss some physically important fixed points when they become singular in the limit N→∞. Using Wilson's renormalization group in its functional nonperturbative versions, we show how the singularities build up as N increases. In the Wilson-Polchinski version of the nonperturbative renormalization group, we show that the singularities are cusps, which become boundary layers for finite but large values of N. The corresponding fixed points being never close to the Gaussian, are out of reach of the usual perturbative approaches. We find four new fixed points and study them in all dimensions and for all N>0 and show that they play an important role for the tricritical physics of O(N) models. Finally, we show that some of these fixed points are bivalued when they are considered as functions of d and N thus revealing important and nontrivial homotopy structures. The Bardeen-Moshe-Bander phenomenon that occurs at N=∞ and d=3 is shown to play a crucial role for the internal consistency of all our results.

Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with temporally correlated noise: A nonperturbative renormalization group approach

We investigate the universal behavior of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation with temporally correlated noise. The presence of time correlations in the microscopic noise breaks the statistical tilt symmetry, or Galilean invariance, of the original KPZ equation with δ-correlated noise (denoted SR-KPZ). Thus, it is not clear whether the KPZ universality class is preserved in this case. Conflicting results exist in the literature, some advocating that it is destroyed even in the limit of infinitesimal temporal correlations, while others find that it persists up to a critical range of such correlations. Using nonperturbative and functional renormalization group techniques, we study the influence of two types of temporal correlators of the noise: a short-range one with a typical timescale τ, and a power-law one with a varying exponent θ. We show that for the short-range noise with any finite τ, the symmetries (the Galilean symmetry, and the time-reversal one in 1+1 dimension) are dynamically restored at large scales, such that the long-distance and long-time properties are governed by the SR-KPZ fixed point. In the presence of a power-law noise, we find that the SR-KPZ fixed point is still stable for θ below a critical value θ_{th}, in accordance with previous renormalization group results, while a long-range fixed point controls the critical scaling for θ>θ_{th}, and we evaluate the θ-dependent critical exponents at this long-range fixed point, in both 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions. While the results in 1+1 dimension can be compared with previous studies, no other prediction was available in 2+1 dimension. We finally report in 1+1 dimension the emergence of anomalous scaling in the long-range phase.

Faceted patterns and anomalous surface roughening driven by long-range temporally correlated noise

We investigate Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) surface growth in the presence of power-law temporally correlated noise. By means of extensive numerical simulations of models in the KPZ universality class we find that, as the noise correlator index increases above some threshold value, the surface exhibits anomalous kinetic roughening of the type described by the generic scaling theory of Ramasco et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2199 (2000)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2199]. Remarkably, as the driving noise temporal correlations increase, the surface develops a characteristic pattern of macroscopic facets that completely dominates the dynamics in the long time limit. We argue that standard scaling fails to capture the behavior of KPZ subject to long-range temporally correlated noise. These phenomena are not not described by the existing theoretical approaches, including renormalization group and self-consistent approaches.

Why Might the Standard Large N Analysis Fail in the O(N) Model: The Role of Cusps in Fixed Point Potentials

The large N expansion plays a fundamental role in quantum and statistical field theory. We show on the example of the O(N) model that at N=∞ its standard implementation misses some fixed points of the renormalization group in all dimensions smaller than four. These new fixed points show singularities under the form of cusps at N=∞ in their effective potential that become a boundary layer at finite N. We show that they have a physical impact on the multicritical physics of the O(N) model at finite N. We also show that the mechanism at play holds also for the O(N)⊗O(2) model and is thus probably generic.

Sinc noise for the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation

In this paper we study the one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation with correlated noise by field-theoretic dynamic renormalization-group techniques. We focus on spatially correlated noise where the correlations are characterized by a sinc profile in Fourier space with a certain correlation length ξ. The influence of this correlation length on the dynamics of the KPZ equation is analyzed. It is found that its large-scale behavior is controlled by the standard KPZ fixed point, i.e., in this limit the KPZ system forced by sinc noise with arbitrarily large but finite correlation length ξ behaves as if it were excited by pure white noise. A similar result has been found by Mathey et al. [S. Mathey et al., Phys. Rev. E 95, 032117 (2017)2470-004510.1103/PhysRevE.95.032117] for a spatial noise correlation of Gaussian type (∼e^{-x^{2}/2ξ^{2}}), using a different method. These two findings together suggest that the KPZ dynamics is universal with respect to the exact noise structure, provided the noise correlation length ξ is finite.

Optimal paths on the road network as directed polymers

We analyze the statistics of the shortest and fastest paths on the road network between randomly sampled end points. We find that, to a good approximation, the optimal paths can be described as directed polymers in a disordered medium, which belong to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class of interface roughening. Comparing the scaling behavior of our data with simulations of directed polymers and previous theoretical results, we are able to point out the few characteristics of the road network that are relevant to the large-scale statistics of optimal paths. Indeed, we show that the local structure is akin to a disordered environment with a power-law distribution which become less important at large scales where long-ranged correlations in the network control the scaling behavior of the optimal paths.

Surprises in O(N) Models: Nonperturbative Fixed Points, Large N Limits, and Multicriticality

We find that the multicritical fixed point structure of the O(N) models is much more complicated than widely believed. In particular, we find new nonperturbative fixed points in three dimensions (d=3) as well as at N=∞. These fixed points come together with an intricate double-valued structure when they are considered as functions of d and N. Many features found for the O(N) models are shared by the O(N)⊗O(2) models relevant to frustrated magnetic systems.

Nonuniversality in the erosion of tilted landscapes

The anisotropic model for landscapes erosion proposed by Pastor-Satorras and Rothman [R. Pastor-Satorras and D. H. Rothman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4349 (1998)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.80.4349] is believed to capture the physics of erosion at intermediate length scale (≲3 km), and to account for the large value of the roughness exponent α observed in real data at this scale. Our study of this model-conducted using the nonperturbative renormalization group-concludes on the nonuniversality of this exponent because of the existence of a line of fixed points. Thus the roughness exponent depends (weakly) on the details of the soil and the erosion mechanisms. We conjecture that this feature, while preserving the generic scaling observed in real data, could explain the wide spectrum of values of α measured for natural landscapes.

Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with short-range correlated noise: Emergent symmetries and nonuniversal observables

We investigate the stationary-state fluctuations of a growing one-dimensional interface described by the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) dynamics with a noise featuring smooth spatial correlations of characteristic range ξ. We employ nonperturbative functional renormalization group methods to resolve the properties of the system at all scales. We show that the physics of the standard (uncorrelated) KPZ equation emerges on large scales independently of ξ. Moreover, the renormalization group flow is followed from the initial condition to the fixed point, that is, from the microscopic dynamics to the large-distance properties. This provides access to the small-scale features (and their dependence on the details of the noise correlations) as well as to the universal large-scale physics. In particular, we compute the kinetic energy spectrum of the stationary state as well as its nonuniversal amplitude. The latter is experimentally accessible by measurements at large scales and retains a signature of the microscopic noise correlations. Our results are compared to previous analytical and numerical results from independent approaches. They are in agreement with direct numerical simulations for the kinetic energy spectrum as well as with the prediction, obtained with the replica trick by Gaussian variational method, of a crossover in ξ of the nonuniversal amplitude of this spectrum.

Frequency regulators for the nonperturbative renormalization group: A general study and the model A as a benchmark

We derive the necessary conditions for implementing a regulator that depends on both momentum and frequency in the nonperturbative renormalization-group flow equations of out-of-equilibrium statistical systems. We consider model A as a benchmark and compute its dynamical critical exponent z. This allows us to show that frequency regulators compatible with causality and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem can be devised. We show that when the principle of minimal sensitivity (PMS) is employed to optimize the critical exponents η, ν, and z, the use of frequency regulators becomes necessary to make the PMS a self-consistent criterion.

Probability distributions for directed polymers in random media with correlated noise

The probability distribution for the free energy of directed polymers in random media (DPRM) with uncorrelated noise in d=1+1 dimensions satisfies the Tracy-Widom distribution. We inquire if and how this universal distribution is modified in the presence of spatially correlated noise. The width of the distribution scales as the DPRM length to an exponent β, in good (but not full) agreement with previous renormalization group and numerical results. The scaled probability is well described by the Tracy-Widom form for uncorrelated noise, but becomes symmetric with increasing correlation exponent. We thus find a class of distributions that continuously interpolates between Tracy-Widom and Gaussian forms.

Fully developed isotropic turbulence: Nonperturbative renormalization group formalism and fixed-point solution

We investigate the regime of fully developed homogeneous and isotropic turbulence of the Navier-Stokes (NS) equation in the presence of a stochastic forcing, using the nonperturbative (functional) renormalization group (NPRG). Within a simple approximation based on symmetries, we obtain the fixed-point solution of the NPRG flow equations that corresponds to fully developed turbulence both in d=2 and 3 dimensions. Deviations to the dimensional scalings (Kolmogorov in d=3 or Kraichnan-Batchelor in d=2) are found for the two-point functions. To further analyze these deviations, we derive exact flow equations in the large wave-number limit, and show that the fixed point does not entail the usual scale invariance, thereby identifying the mechanism for the emergence of intermittency within the NPRG framework. The purpose of this work is to provide a detailed basis for NPRG studies of NS turbulence; the determination of the ensuing intermittency exponents is left for future work.

Functional renormalization group approach to the Kraichnan model

We study the anomalous scaling of the structure functions of a scalar field advected by a random Gaussian velocity field, the Kraichnan model, by means of functional renormalization group techniques. We analyze the symmetries of the model and derive the leading correction to the structure functions considering the renormalization of composite operators and applying the operator product expansion.

Dynamic criticality far from equilibrium: One-loop flow of Burgers-Kardar-Parisi-Zhang systems with broken Galilean invariance

Burgers-Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) scaling has recently (re-) surfaced in a variety of physical contexts, ranging from anharmonic chains to quantum systems such as open superfluids, in which a variety of random forces may be encountered and/or engineered. Motivated by these developments, we here provide a generalization of the KPZ universality class to situations with long-ranged temporal correlations in the noise, which purposefully break the Galilean invariance that is central to the conventional KPZ solution. We compute the phase diagram and critical exponents of the KPZ equation with 1/f noise (KPZ1/f) in spatial dimensions 1≤d<4 using the dynamic renormalization group with a frequency cutoff technique in a one-loop truncation. Distinct features of KPZ1/f are (i) a generically scale-invariant, rough phase at high noise levels that violates fluctuation-dissipation relations and exhibits hyperthermal statistics even in d=1, (ii) a fine-tuned roughening transition at which the flow fulfills an emergent thermal-like fluctuation-dissipation relation, that separates the rough phase from (iii) a massive phase in 1<d<4 (in d=1 the interface is always rough). We point out potential connections to nonlinear hydrodynamics with a reduced set of conservation laws and noisy quantum liquids.

Strong-coupling phases of the anisotropic Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation

We study the anisotropic Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation using nonperturbative renormalization group methods. In contrast to a previous analysis in the weak-coupling regime, we find the strong-coupling fixed point corresponding to the isotropic rough phase to be always locally stable and unaffected by the anisotropy even at noninteger dimensions. Apart from the well-known weak-coupling and the now well-established isotropic strong-coupling behavior, we find an anisotropic strong-coupling fixed point for nonlinear couplings of opposite signs at noninteger dimensions.