New applications of the renormalization group method in physics -- a brief introduction

The renormalization group method developed by Ken Wilson more than four decades ago has revolutionized the way we think about problems involving a broad range of energy scales such as phase transitions, turbulence, continuum limits and bifurcations in dynamical systems. The theme issue provides articles reviewing recent progress made using the renormalization group method in atomic, condensed matter, nuclear and particle physics. In the following we introduce these articles in a way that emphasizes common themes and the universal aspects of the method.