Related papers: Anomalies, Unitarity and Quantum Irreversibility
Some recent ideas are generalized from four dimensions to the general dimension n. In quantum field theory, two terms of the trace anomaly in external gravity, the Euler density G_n and Box^{n/2-1}R, are relevant to the problem of quantum…
The one-loop structure of the trace anomaly is investigated using different regularizations and renormalization schemes: dimensional, proper time and Pauli-Villars. The universality of this anomaly is analyzed from a very general…
I derive a procedure to generate sum rules for the trace anomalies a and a'. Linear combinations of Delta a = a_UV-a_IR and Delta a' = a'_UV-a'_IR are expressed as multiple flow integrals of the two-, three- and four-point functions of the…
I discuss several issues about the irreversibility of the RG flow and the trace anomalies c, a and a'. First I argue that in quantum field theory: i) the scheme-invariant area Delta(a') of the graph of the effective beta function between…
We present a proof of the irreversibility of renormalization group flows, i.e. the c-theorem for unitary, renormalizable theories in four (or generally even) dimensions. Using Ward identities for scale transformations and spectral…
I identify the class of even-dimensional conformal field theories that is most similar to two-dimensional conformal field theory. In this class the formula, elaborated recently, for the irreversibility of the renormalization-group flow…
The general form of the stress-tensor three-point function in four dimensions is obtained by solving the Ward identities for the diffeomorphism and Weyl symmetries. Several properties of this correlator are discussed, such as the…
The relation between the trace and R-current anomalies in 4D supersymmetric theories implies that the U(1)$_R$F$^2$, U(1)$_R$ and U(1)$^3_R$ anomalies which matched in studies of N=1 Seiberg duality satisfy positivity constraints. These…
The relation between the trace and R-current anomalies in supersymmetric theories implies that the U$(1)_RF^2$, U$(1)_R$ and U$(1)_R^3$ anomalies which are matched in studies of N=1 Seiberg duality satisfy positivity constraints. Some…
We study conformal field theories with boundaries, and their boundary renormalization group (RG) flows, using methods from quantum information theory. Positivity of the relative entropy, together with unitarity and Lorentz invariance, give…
We study the extension of the approach to the a-theorem of Komargodski and Schwimmer to quantum field theories in d=6 spacetime dimensions. The dilaton effective action is obtained up to 6th order in derivatives. The anomaly flow a_UV -…
A flow invariant in quantum field theory is a quantity that does not depend on the flow connecting the UV and IR conformal fixed points. We study the flow invariance of the most general sum rule with correlators of the trace Theta of the…
The renormalization group flow of unimodular quantum gravity is computed by taking into account the graviton and Faddeev-Popov ghosts anomalous dimensions. In this setting, a ultraviolet attractive fixed point is found. Symmetry-breaking…
We establish a linear relation between the $a$-type Weyl anomaly and the 't Hooft anomaly coefficients for the $R$-symmetry and gravitational anomalies in six-dimensional $(1,0)$ superconformal field theories. For RG flows onto the tensor…
We discuss some general aspects of renormalization group flows in four dimensions. Every such flow can be reinterpreted in terms of a spontaneously broken conformal symmetry. We analyze in detail the consequences of trace anomalies for the…
A conformal field theory (CFT) in dimension $d\geq 3$ coupled to a planar, two-dimensional, conformal defect is characterized in part by a "central charge" $b$ that multiplies the Euler density in the defect's Weyl anomaly. For defect…
We consider a simple but generic model of gravity where Weyl--invariance is realized thanks to the presence of a gauge field for dilatations. We quantize the theory by suitably defining renormalization group flows that describe the…
Recent conjectures of the c-theorem in four and higher dimensions have suggested that the coefficient of the Euler characteristic in the trace anomaly could measure the degrees of freedom in field theory and decrease along the…
We argue that four-dimensional quantum gravity may be essentially renormalizable if one relaxes the assumption of metricity of the theory. We work with Plebanski formulation of general relativity in which the metric (tetrad), the…
Paying attention to conformal invariance as the invariance under local transformations of units of measure, we take a conformal invariant quantum field as a quantum matter theory in which one has the freedom to choose the values of units of…