Renormalization Group Flow of the Two-Dimensional Hierarchical Coulomb Gas

We consider a quasilinear parabolic differential equation associated with the renormalization group transformation of the two-dimensional hierarchical Coulomb system in the limit as the size of the block L goes to 1. We show that the initial value problem is well defined in a suitable function space and the solution converges, as t goes to infinity, to one of the countably infinite equilibrium solutions. The nontrivial equilibrium solution bifurcates from the trivial one. These solutions are fully described and we provide a complete analysis of their local and global stability for all values of inverse temperature. Gallavotti and Nicolo's conjecture on infinite sequence of ``phases transitions'' is also addressed. Our results rule out an intermediate phase between the plasma and the Kosterlitz-Thouless phases, at least in the hierarchical model we consider.