Strict Convexity of the Surface Tension for Non-convex Potentials

Abstract: We study gradient models on the lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$ with non-convex interactions. These Gibbs fields (lattice models with continuous spin) emerge in various branches of physics and mathematics. In quantum field theory they appear as massless field theories. Even though our motivation stems from considering vector valued fields as displacements for atoms of crystal structures and the study of the Cauchy-Born rule for these models, our attention here is mostly devoted to interfaces, with the gradient field as an \emph{effective} interface interaction. In this case we prove the strict convexity of the surface tension (interface free energy) for low temperatures and sufficiently small interface tilts using muli-scale (renormalisation group analysis) techniques following the approach of Brydges and coworkers \cite{B07}. This is a complement to the study of the high temperature regime in \cite{CDM09} and it is an extension of Funaki and Spohn's result \cite{FS97} valid for strictly convex interactions.