[1] It does not denote a single theory but encompasses many models, including for magnetism, superconductivity, superfluidity,[2] topological phase transition, wetting[3][4] as well as non-equilibrium phase transitions.
In other words, the microstates of the system are expressed through field configurations.
It is closely related to quantum field theory, which describes the quantum mechanics of fields, and shares with it many techniques, such as the path integral formulation and renormalization.
In fact, by performing a Wick rotation from Minkowski space to Euclidean space, many results of statistical field theory can be applied directly to its quantum equivalent.
Statistical field theories are widely used to describe systems in polymer physics or biophysics, such as polymer films, nanostructured block copolymers[6] or polyelectrolytes.