Threshold effect 3791178 222871318 2008-07-01T14:53:15Z 134.158.40.91 In [[particle physics]], the term '''threshold effect''' usually refers to small corrections to rough calculations based on the [[renormalization group]] that arise from the detailed behavior near the scale where new physics takes place. In the context of renormalization group, we often "integrate out" modes of [[quantum field]]s with frequencies exceeding a certain [[energy scale]] (cutoff). If the cutoff is very close to the energy scale that we want to study, the threshold effects become important and contribute small terms to formulae such as those for the [[beta-function|beta function]]s. A Threshold effect is also found in [[genetics]] whereby an organism has to acquire a certain amount of polygenes for a trait in order to produce a sufficient amount of a particular chemical to overcome a threshold. I.e., in [[hamster]]s, there are two main types of allele oconcerning the number of toes of an individual, with each loci enabling either a toe-increasing or toe-decreasing allele. 0-4 toe increasing allles gives three toes and 5-8 toe increasing alleles gives four toes, with the extra toes being produced after a sufficient amount of a certain chemical has been produced. [[Category:Particle physics]] [[Category:Renormalization group]] {{phys-stub}}