English

Universal definition of the non-conformal trace anomaly

High Energy Physics - Theory 2024-02-16 v2 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We show that there exists a generalized, universal notion of the trace anomaly for theories which are not conformally invariant at the classical level. The definition is suitable for any regularization scheme and clearly states to what extent the classical equations of motion should be used, thus resolving existing controversies surrounding previous proposals. Additionally, we exhibit the link between our definition of the anomaly and the functional Jacobian arising from a Weyl transformation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2312.07666,
  title  = {Universal definition of the non-conformal trace anomaly},
  author = {Renata Ferrero and Sebastián A. Franchino-Viñas and Markus B. Fröb and William C. C. Lima},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.07666},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

10 pages. Two comments added. Matches the published version