Ward identities in a two-dimensional gravitational model: anomalous amplitude revisited using a completely regularization-independent mathematical strategy

Abstract

We present a detailed investigation of the anomalous gravitational amplitude in a simple two-dimensional model with Weyl fermions. We employ a mathematical strategy that completely avoids any regularization prescription for handling divergent perturbative amplitudes. This strategy relies solely on the validity of the linearity of the integration operation and avoids modifying the amplitudes during intermediate calculations, unlike studies using regularization methods. Additionally, we adopt arbitrary routings for internal loop momenta, representing the most general analysis scenario. As expected, we show that surface terms play a crucial role in both preserving the symmetry properties of the amplitude and ensuring the mathematical consistency of the results. Notably, our final perturbative amplitude can be converted into the form obtained using any specific regularization prescription. We consider three common scenarios, one of which recovers the traditional results for gravitational anomalies. However, we demonstrate that this scenario inevitably breaks the linearity of integration, leading to an undesirable mathematical situation. This clean and transparent conclusion, enabled by the general nature of our strategy, would not be apparent in similar studies using regularization techniques.