Gauge-invariant nonperturbative Wilson action in quantum electrodynamics II

Abstract: The gradient flow exact renormalization group (GFERG) is a formulation of the exact renormalization group for gauge theories that provides a renormalization group flow preserving the gauge Ward--Takahashi identity exactly. In this paper, we nonperturbatively solve the GFERG flow equation for the simplest nontrivial gauge-invariant Wilson action, introduced in a previous paper, for $D$-dimensional quantum electrodynamics with~$N_f$ flavors (for all~$D$, flavors are counted in units of four-component spinors). For $D=3$ and~$D=2$, a nontrivial infrared fixed point exists even for~$N_f=1$, and the structure of the critical exponents at the fixed point is qualitatively the same as that in the large-$N_f$ limit. We also obtain the gauge-field propagator in the continuum limit; for~$D=2$, it reproduces the dynamical mass of the Schwinger model within a few percent. To the best of our knowledge, apart from the large-$N_f$ approximation, this is the first example in which the Wilson renormalization group in a gauge theory is solved nonperturbatively while manifestly preserving gauge symmetry.