On background fields and a cutoff in sigma models

Abstract In this paper, using the example of a two-dimensional nonlinear sigma model with the Heisenberg group, we compare two variants of chiral field decomposition into a background part and a fluctuation. It is shown that only one of these methods is consistent with the construction of the generating functional by introducing a background field. Furthermore, we perform a one-loop renormalization of the quantum action, calculate power-law singularities in the two-loop approximation, and consider transition to an extended classical action. Finally, we study the consistency of the cutoff with special functional relations within the framework of the background field method.