Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory
Abstract It was argued recently that conformal invariance in flat spacetime implies Weyl invariance in a general curved background for unitary theories and possible anomalies in the Weyl variation of scalar operators are identified. We argue that generically unitarity alone is not sufficient for a c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2017-12-01
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| Series: | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5463-8 |
| _version_ | 1818557378729082880 |
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| author | Feng Wu |
| author_facet | Feng Wu |
| author_sort | Feng Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract It was argued recently that conformal invariance in flat spacetime implies Weyl invariance in a general curved background for unitary theories and possible anomalies in the Weyl variation of scalar operators are identified. We argue that generically unitarity alone is not sufficient for a conformal field theory to be Weyl invariant. Furthermore, we show explicitly that when a unitary conformal field theory couples to gravity in a Weyl-invariant way, each primary scalar operator that is either relevant or marginal in the unitary conformal field theory corresponds to a Weyl-covariant operator in the curved background. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T23:58:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa4b58fac7964a5988ed7aa824de7ad6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1434-6044 1434-6052 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T23:58:42Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa4b58fac7964a5988ed7aa824de7ad62022-12-21T23:26:27ZengSpringerOpenEuropean Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields1434-60441434-60522017-12-0177121510.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5463-8Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theoryFeng Wu0Department of Physics, Nanchang UniversityAbstract It was argued recently that conformal invariance in flat spacetime implies Weyl invariance in a general curved background for unitary theories and possible anomalies in the Weyl variation of scalar operators are identified. We argue that generically unitarity alone is not sufficient for a conformal field theory to be Weyl invariant. Furthermore, we show explicitly that when a unitary conformal field theory couples to gravity in a Weyl-invariant way, each primary scalar operator that is either relevant or marginal in the unitary conformal field theory corresponds to a Weyl-covariant operator in the curved background.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5463-8 |
| spellingShingle | Feng Wu Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| title | Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory |
| title_full | Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory |
| title_fullStr | Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory |
| title_short | Note on Weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory |
| title_sort | note on weyl versus conformal invariance in field theory |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5463-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fengwu noteonweylversusconformalinvarianceinfieldtheory |