Local scale invariance and its applications to strongly anisotropic critical phenomena

Abstract

The generalization of dynamical scaling to local scale invariance is reviewed. Starting from a recapitulation of the phenomenology of ageing phenomena, the generalization of dynamical scaling to local scale transformation for any given dynamical exponent $z$ is described and the two distinct types of local scale invariance are presented. The special case $z=2$ and the associated Ward identity of Schrödinger invariance is treated. Local scale invariance predicts the form of the two-point functions. Existing confirmations of these predictions for (I) the Lifshitz points in spin systems with competing interactions such as the ANNNI model and (II) non-equilibrium ageing phenomena as occur in the kinetic Ising model with Glauber dynamics are described.

Latex2e 23 pages, with 4 figures included. Review to appear in `Progress in Mathematical Physics', Nova Science (New York 2003)