Banks-Zaks fixed point

noun

In quantum chromodynamics with massless flavours, where the number of flavours is sufficiently small (i.e. small enough to guarantee asymptotic freedom, depending on the number of colours), an interacting conformal fixed point of the renormalization group where the value of the coupling is less than one (i.e. one can perform perturbation theory in weak coupling).

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounBanks-Zaks fixed point (plural Banks-Zaks fixed points)

plural Banks-Zaks fixed points

  1. quantum chromodynamicsIn quantum chromodynamics with massless flavours, where the number of flavours is sufficiently small (i.e. small enough to guarantee asymptotic freedom, depending on the number of colours), an interacting conformal fixed point of the renormalization group where the value of the coupling is less than one (i.e. one can perform perturbation theory in weak coupling).

Origin

First reported by William E. Caswell in 1974, and later used by Banks and Zaks in their analysis of the phase structure of vector-like gauge theories with massless fermions.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Banks-Zaks fixed point. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Banks-Zaks%20fixed%20point

MLA

“Banks-Zaks fixed point.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Banks-Zaks%20fixed%20point. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Banks-Zaks fixed point,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Banks-Zaks%20fixed%20point.

Source: Banks-Zaks fixed point on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.