Competing interactions and the Lifshitz-type Nonlinear Sigma Model

We establish the equivalence between the continuum limit of the quantum spherical model with competing interactions, which is relevant to the investigation of Lifshitz points, and the O(N) nonlinear sigma model with the addition of higher order spatial derivative operators, which breaks the Lorentz symmetry and is known as Lifshitz-type (or anisotropic) nonlinear sigma model. In the context of the 1/N expansion, we also discuss the renormalization properties of this nonlinear sigma model and find the nontrivial fixed points of the beta-functions in various dimensions, which turn out to be connected with the existence of phase transitions in the quantum spherical model.