Finite size effects and spontaneously broken symmetries: The case of the O(4) model

Finite volume numerical simulations of scalar models with continuous symmetry face strong finite size effects in the broken phase due to the presence of light Goldstone states. In the region where the light Goldstone bosons dominate the dynamics of the system universal finite size scaling formulae are predicted by chiral perturbation theory. Introducing a finite external source one can determine infinite volume, zero external source physical quantities from finite volume observables. Here we apply this theoretically controlled approach to the 4 dimensional O(4) scalar model. All of our numerical results are in excellent agreement with the predicted finite size scaling forms. We confirm earlier results at zero external source where the infinite volume limit was approximated by projecting the fields to the direction of the magnetization. (orig.)