Concept information
Preferred term
effective action
Definition(s)
- In quantum field theory, the quantum effective action is a modified expression for the classical action taking into account quantum corrections while ensuring that the principle of least action applies, meaning that extremizing the effective action yields the equations of motion for the vacuum expectation values of the quantum fields. The effective action also acts as a generating functional for one-particle irreducible correlation functions. The potential component of the effective action is called the effective potential, with the expectation value of the true vacuum being the minimum of this potential rather than the classical potential, making it important for studying spontaneous symmetry breaking. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_action)
Broader concept(s)
In other languages
-
French
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-D5V8H1RG-6
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