ar X iv : h ep - t h / 02 02 11 3 v 1 1 8 Fe b 20 02 Renormalization of the Periodic Scalar Field Theory by Polchinski ’ s Renormalization Group Method

The renormalization group (RG) flow for the two-dimensional sine-Gordon model is determined by means of Polchinski's RG equation at next-to-leading order in the derivative expansion. In this work we have two different goals, (i) to consider the renormalization scheme-dependence of Polchinski's method by matching Polchinski's equation with the Wegner-Houghton equation and with the real space RG equations for the two-dimensional dilute Coulomb-gas, (ii) to go beyond the local potential approximation in the gradient expansion in order to clarify the supposed role of the field-dependent wave-function renor-malization. The well-known Coleman fixed point of the sine-Gordon model is recovered after linearization, whereas the flow exhibits strong dependence on the choice of the renormalization scheme when non-linear terms are kept. The RG flow is compared to those obtained in the Wegner-Houghton approach and in the dilute gas approximation for the two-dimensional Coulomb-gas.