Multicriticality and Scaling: Mellin Spectral Theory, and the Decoupling of Geometric and Spectral Exponents
We develop a spectral theory of scale-invariant operators on the multiplicative half-line $(\mathbb{R}_+, dx/x)$. A symmetric kernel $M(x, y)$ satisfying $M(kx, ky) = k^{-a}M(x, y)$ necessarily factorizes as $(xy)^{-a/2}F(x/y)$, where the shape function $F$ depends only on the ratio of its arguments. The Mellin transform diagonalizes such operators: the generalized eigenfunctions are $\psi_\omega(x) = x^{-a/2+i\omega}$, and the eigenvalues are the Mellin multiplier $\tilde{F}(\omega)$. This structure reveals a fundamental decoupling of two exponents. The geometric exponent $a$, carried by the power-law envelope $(xy)^{-a/2}$, governs the matrix scaling under dilation. The spectral exponent $b$, measured from the eigenvalue decay of the finite-dimensional truncation, is an effective quantity determined by the shape of $\tilde{F}(\omega)$. For the explicit kernel $F(t) = c \rho^{|\ln t|}$, the Mellin multiplier is a Lorentzian of width $\sigma = -\ln \rho$, not a power law -- so $b$ is generically distinct from $a$. This decoupling provides a precise mathematical characterization of multicriticality: the equality $a = b$ corresponds to a simple critical fixed point of the Renormalization Group, while $a \neq b$ signals the presence of multiple independent scaling dimensions. We prove that the discrete self-similarity condition forces eigenvector collapse on the lattice, motivating the continuum formulation. Finite-size corrections from lattice sampling are quantified numerically.