CLASSICAL EVOLUTION OF FRACTAL MEASURES GENERATED BY A SCALAR FIELD ON THE LATTICE

Abstract

We investigate the classical evolution of a ϕ4 scalar field theory, using in the initial state random field configurations possessing a fractal measure expressed by a noninteger mass dimension. These configurations resemble the equilibrium state of a critical scalar condensate. The measures of the initial fractal behavior vary in time following the mean field motion. We show that the remnants of the original fractal geometry survive and leave an imprint in the system time averaged observables, even for large times compared to the approximate oscillation period of the mean field, determined by the model parameters. This behavior becomes more transparent in the evolution of a deterministic Cantor-like scalar field configuration. We extend our study to the case of two interacting scalar fields, and we find qualitatively similar results. Therefore, our analysis indicates that the geometrical properties of a critical system initially at equilibrium could sustain for several periods of the field oscillations in the phase of nonequilibrium evolution.