Full Conformal Group Research Articles

Weyl quadratic gravity as a gauge theory and non-metricity vs torsion duality

We review (non-supersymmetric) gauge theories of four-dimensional space-time symmetries and their quadratic action. The only true gauge theory of such a symmetry (with a physical gauge boson) that has an exact geometric interpretation, generates Einstein gravity in its spontaneously broken phase and is anomaly-free, is that of Weyl gauge symmetry (of dilatations). Gauging the full conformal group does not generate a true gauge theory of physical (dynamical) associated gauge bosons. Regarding the Weyl gauge symmetry, it is naturally realised in Weyl conformal geometry, where it admits two different but equivalent geometric formulations, of same quadratic action: one non-metric but torsion-free, the other Weyl gauge-covariant and metric (with respect to a new differential operator). To clarify the origin of this intriguing result, a third equivalent formulation of this gauge symmetry is constructed using the standard, modern approach on the tangent space (uplifted to space-time by the vielbein), which is metric but has vectorial torsion. This shows an interesting duality vectorial non-metricity vs vectorial torsion of the corresponding formulations, related by a projective transformation. We comment on the physical meaning of these results.

Exact quantum conformal symmetry, its spontaneous breakdown, and gravitational Weyl anomaly

The classical Lagrangian of the Standard Model enjoys the symmetry of the full conformal group if the mass of the Higgs boson is put to zero. This is a hint that conformal symmetry may play a fundamental role in the ultimate theory describing Nature. The origin of scales, such as the Higgs vacuum expectation value (vev), may result from the spontaneous breakdown of the conformal symmetry by the dilaton field. In this work, we study whether this classical setup can be implemented in quantum theory and be phenomenologically viable by presenting an explicit construction where the exact conformal symmetry can be preserved and is anomaly free while being spontaneously broken. Not only the Higgs mass but also the genuine quantum scales like the QCD confinement radius are generated by the dilaton vev. We also discuss the extension of these ideas to the theories with dynamical gravity and show that the only finite subgroup of the local Weyl transformations which is anomaly free corresponds to the global scale symmetry. This means that the conformal invariance of the flat space theory is explicitly broken down to the scale symmetry by gravitational effects related to the Weyl anomaly.

The inflationary wavefunction from analyticity and factorization

We study the analytic properties of tree-level wavefunction coefficients in quasi-de Sitter space. We focus on theories which spontaneously break dS boost symmetries and can produce significant non-Gaussianities. The corresponding inflationary correlators are (approximately) scale invariant, but are not invariant under the full conformal group. We derive cutting rules and dispersion formulas for the late-time wavefunction coefficients by using factorization and analyticity properties of the dS bulk-to-bulk propagator. This gives a unitarity method which is valid at tree-level for general n-point functions and for fields of arbitrary mass. Using the cutting rules and dispersion formulas, we are able to compute n-point functions by gluing together lower-point functions. As an application, we study general four-point, scalar exchange diagrams in the EFT of inflation. We show that exchange diagrams constructed from boost-breaking interactions can be written as a finite sum over residues. Finally, we explain how the dS identities used in this work are related by analytic continuation to analogous identities in Anti-de Sitter space.

A canonical realization of the Weyl BMS symmetry

We construct a free field realization of an extension of the BMS algebra in 2+1 dimensional space-time. Besides the supertranslations and superrotations, the extension contains an infinite set of superdilatations. We also comment the difficulties that appear when trying to extend the algebra to that of the full conformal group.

A new approach to nearly constant input impedance of self-complementary antennas

Conformal techniques, based on the covariance of Maxwell's electrodynamics under the full conformal group in four spacetime dimensions, are discussed in relation with the constant input impedance properties of frequency-independent antennas. In particular, we show that by applying suitable conformal transformations to existing self-complementary planar structures like logarithmic spirals, the constant input impedance property is considerably improved, especially in the low-frequency domain, where it usually fails due to the large wavelength involved. This procedure enables to perform a more intelligent truncation with the aim to capture some of the properties left behind in the cutting and to design realistic ultra wideband antennas with a more controlled value of the input impedance in the whole operation range.

Symmetric superfluids

We present a complete classification of symmetric superfluids, namely shift-symmetric and Poincaré invariant scalar field theories that have an enlarged set of classically conserved currents at leading order in derivatives. These theories arise in the decoupling limit of the effective field theory of shift-symmetric, single-clock cosmologies and our results pick out all models with couplings fixed by additional symmetry. Remarkably, in D ≥ 2 spacetime dimensions there are only two possibilities: the Dirac-Born-Infeld theory and Scaling Superfluids with Lagrangian (−∂μϕ∂μϕ)α, for some real α. The scaling symmetry present for any α is further enhanced to the full conformal group only for α = D/2, and to infinitely many additional generators for the cuscuton, namely α = 1/2. We discuss the stability of Scaling Superfluids and point out that all coupling constants are determined by the speed of sound.

Weyl geometry

We develop the properties of Weyl geometry, beginning with a review of the conformal properties of Riemannian spacetimes. Decomposition of the Riemann curvature into trace and traceless parts allows an easy proof that the Weyl curvature tensor is the conformally invariant part of the Riemann curvature, and shows the explicit change in the Ricci and Schouten tensors required to insure conformal invariance. We include a proof of the well-known condition for the existence of a conformal transformation to a Ricci-flat spacetime. We generalize this to a derivation of the condition for the existence of a conformal transformation to a spacetime satisfying the Einstein equation with matter sources. Then, enlarging the symmetry from Poincaré to Weyl, we develop the Cartan structure equations of Weyl geometry, the form of the curvature tensor and its relationship to the Riemann curvature of the corresponding Riemannian geometry. We present a simple theory of Weyl-covariant gravity based on a curvature-linear action, and show that it is conformally equivalent to general relativity. This theory is invariant under local dilatations, but not the full conformal group.

The conformal limit of inflation in the era of CMB polarimetry

We argue that the non-detection of primordial tensor modes has taught us a great deal about the primordial universe. In single-field slow-roll inflation, the current upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r<0.07 (95% CL), implies that the Hubble slow-roll parameters obey ε≪η , and therefore establishes the existence of a new hierarchy. We dub this regime the conformal limit of (slow-roll) inflation, and show that it includes Starobinsky-like inflation as well as all viable single-field models with a sub-Planckian field excursion. In this limit, all primordial correlators are constrained by the full conformal group to leading non-trivial order in slow-roll. This fixes the power spectrum and the full bispectrum, and leads to the ``conformal'' shape of non-Gaussianity. The size of non-Gaussianity is related to the running of the spectral index by a consistency condition, and therefore it is expected to be small. In passing, we clarify the role of boundary terms in the ζ action, the order to which constraint equations need to be solved, and re-derive our results using the Wheeler-deWitt formalism.

Asymptotic structure of the Einstein-Maxwell theory on AdS3

The asymptotic structure of AdS spacetimes in the context of General Relativity coupled to the Maxwell field in three spacetime dimensions is analyzed. Although the fall-off of the fields is relaxed with respect to that of Brown and Henneaux, the variation of the canonical generators associated to the asymptotic Killing vectors can be shown to be finite once required to span the Lie derivative of the fields. The corresponding surface integrals then acquire explicit contributions from the electromagnetic field, and become well-defined provided they fulfill suitable integrability conditions, implying that the leading terms of the asymptotic form of the electromagnetic field are functionally related. Consequently, for a generic choice of boundary conditions, the asymptotic symmetries are broken down to $\mathbb{R}\otimes U\left(1\right)\otimes U\left(1\right)$. Nonetheless, requiring compatibility of the boundary conditions with one of the asymptotic Virasoro symmetries, singles out the set to be characterized by an arbitrary function of a single variable, whose precise form depends on the choice of the chiral copy. Remarkably, requiring the asymptotic symmetries to contain the full conformal group selects a very special set of boundary conditions that is labeled by a unique constant parameter, so that the algebra of the canonical generators is given by the direct sum of two copies of the Virasoro algebra with the standard central extension and $U\left(1\right)$. This special set of boundary conditions makes the energy spectrum of electrically charged rotating black holes to be well-behaved.

Threefold complementary approach to holographic QCD

A complementary approach, derived from (a) higher-dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, (b) light-front quantization and (c) the invariance properties of the full conformal group in one dimension leads to a nonperturbative relativistic light-front wave equation which incorporates essential spectroscopic and dynamical features of hadron physics. The fundamental conformal symmetry of the classical QCD Lagrangian in the limit of massless quarks is encoded in the resulting effective theory. The mass scale for confinement emerges from the isomorphism between the conformal group and SO(2,1). This scale appears in the light-front Hamiltonian by mapping to the evolution operator in the formalism of de Alfaro, Fubini and Furlan, which retains the conformal invariance of the action. Remarkably, the specific form of the confinement interaction and the corresponding modification of AdS space are uniquely determined in this procedure.

CMB from CFT

During inflation, spacetime is approximately described by de Sitter space which is conformally invariant with the symmetry group SO(1,4). This symmetry can significantly constrain the quantum perturbations which arise in the inflationary epoch. We consider a general situation of single field inflation and show that the three point function involving two scalar modes and one tensor mode is uniquely determined, up to small corrections, by the conformal symmetries. Special conformal transformations play an important role in our analysis. Our result applies only to models where the inflaton sector also approximately preserves the full conformal group and shows that this three point function is a good way to test if special conformal invariance was preserved during inflation.

Subluminal galilean genesis

We put forward an improved version of the Galilean Genesis model that addresses the problem of superluminality. We demote the full conformal group to Poincare symmetry plus dilations, supplemented with approximate galilean shift invariance in the UV and at small field values. In this way fluctuations around the NEC-violating cosmological background are made substantially subluminal, and superluminality cannot be reached by any small change of the solution, in contrast with the original model. Dilation invariance still protects the scale-invariance of correlation functions of a massless test scalar - which is the source of the observed cosmological fluctuations - but the explicit breaking of the conformal group can be potentially observed in higher-order correlators. We also highlight a subtlety in matching the NEC-violating phase with the standard cosmological evolution, and discuss the possible couplings of the Galileon to gravity.

OnR-symmetric Fixed Points and Superconformality

An important unanswered question in quantum field theory is to understand precisely under which conditions scale invariance implies invariance under the full conformal group. While the general answer in two dimensions has been known for over twenty years, a precise non-perturbative relation between scale and conformal invariance in higher dimensions has been lacking. In this note, we specialize to four dimensions and give a full quantum mechanical proof that certain unitary R-symmetric fixed points are necessarily superconformal. Among other consequences, this result implies that the infrared fixed points of N=1 supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics are superconformal.

FUBINI VACUA AS A CLASSICAL DE SITTER VACUA

The Fubini's idea to introduce a fundamental scale of hadron phenomena by means of dilatation non-invariant vacuum state in the framework of a scale invariant Lagrangian field theory is recalled. The Fubini vacua is invariant under the de Sitter subgroup of the full conformal group. We obtain a finite entropy for the quantum state corresponding to the classical Fubini vacua in Euclidean spacetime resembling the entropy of the de Sitter vacua. In Minkowski spacetime it is shown that the Fubini vacua is mainly a bath of radiation with Rayleigh–Jeans distribution for the low energy radiation. In four dimensions, the critical scalar theory is shown to be equivalent to the Einstein field equation in the ansatz of conformally flat metrics and to the SU(2) Yang–Mills theory in the 't Hooft ansatz. In D dimensions, the Hitchin formula for the information geometry metric of the moduli space of instantons is used to obtain the information geometry of the free-parameter space of the Fubini vacua which is shown to be a (D+1)-dimensional AdS space. Considering the Fubini vacua as a de Sitter vacua, the corresponding cosmological constant is shown to be given by the coupling constant of the critical scalar theory. In Minkowski spacetime it is shown that the Fubini vacua are equivalent to an open FRW universe.

Noninvariant zeta-function regularization in quantum Liouville theory

We consider two possible zeta-function regularization schemes of quantum Liouville theory. One refers to the Laplace–Beltrami operator covariant under conformal transformations, the other to the naive noninvariant operator. The first produces an invariant regularization which however does not give rise to a theory invariant under the full conformal group. The other is equivalent to the regularization proposed by A.B. Zamolodchikov and Al.B. Zamolodchikov and gives rise to a theory invariant under the full conformal group.

On the worldsheet theories of strings dual to free largeNgauge theories

We analyze in detail some properties of the worldsheet of the closed string theories suggested by Gopakumar to be dual to free large N SU(N) gauge theories (with adjoint matter fields). We use Gopakumar's prescription to translate the computation of space-time correlation functions to worldsheet correlation functions for several classes of Feynman diagrams, by explicit computations of Strebel differentials. We compute the worldsheet operator product expansion in several cases and find that it is consistent with general worldsheet conformal field theory expectations. A peculiar property of the construction is that in several cases the resulting worldsheet correlation functions are non-vanishing only on a sub-space of the moduli space (say, for specific relations between vertex positions). Another strange property we find is that for a conformally invariant space-time theory, the mapping to the worldsheet does not preserve the special conformal symmetries, so that the full conformal group is not realized as a global symmetry on the worldsheet (even though it is, by construction, a symmetry of all integrated correlation functions).

Integrability of two-loop dilatation operator in gauge theories

We study the two-loop dilatation operator in the noncompact SL ( 2 ) sector of QCD and supersymmetric Yang–Mills theories with N = 1 , 2 , 4 supercharges. The analysis is performed for Wilson operators built from three quark/gaugino fields of the same helicity belonging to the fundamental/adjoint representation of the SU ( 3 ) / SU ( N c ) gauge group and involving an arbitrary number of covariant derivatives projected onto the light-cone. To one-loop order, the dilatation operator inherits the conformal symmetry of the classical theory and is given in the multi-color limit by a local Hamiltonian of the Heisenberg magnet with the spin operators being generators of the collinear subgroup of full (super)conformal group. Starting from two loops, the dilatation operator depends on the representation of the gauge group and, in addition, receives corrections stemming from the violation of the conformal symmetry. We compute its eigenspectrum and demonstrate that to two-loop order integrability survives the conformal symmetry breaking in the aforementioned gauge theories, but it is violated in QCD by the contribution of nonplanar diagrams. In SYM theories with extended supersymmetry, the N -dependence of the two-loop dilatation operator can be factorized (modulo an additive normalization constant) into a multiplicative c-number. This property makes the eigenspectrum of the two-loop dilatation operator alike in all gauge theories including the maximally supersymmetric theory. Our analysis suggests that integrability is only tied to the planar limit and it is sensitive neither to conformal symmetry nor supersymmetry.

Walls from fluxes: an analytic RG-flow

We construct supergravity solutions describing the near horizon limit of D1D5 systems with non-trivial boundary conditions. Upon reduction to five dimensions they define Melvin universes with NS--NS/RR fluxes, that smoothly interpolate between two different AdS_3 geometries which define fixed points for the RG--flow of the dual field theory. We discuss the decoupling limits at the two ends of the flow. We also present a systematic study of the global properties of our solution. In particular we show how, although the AdS_3 x S^3 global isometry group is broken down to SU(2)_R x U(1)^3 by global identifications, a full two-dimensional conformal group of isometries, with the expected central charge, is restored at infinity.

Coset group realizations and space-time local symmetries

We describe the general mathematical framework of the coset realizations of symmetry groups as a basis for the gauge theories. In this scheme the group characterization of the space-time coordinates is made apparent. As a result the general invariance and the standard space-time symmetries are naturally related. When the full conformal group is considered, the effective theory of the massless excitation of the closed bosonic string is found.

Dynamical approach to conformal gravity and the bosonic string effective action

We show that a theory invariant under the full local conformal group in a coset realization contains naturally the massless degrees of freedom of the closed bosonic string. This effective theory is alternative to the bosonic part of SupergravityN=1 as given by Manton and Chapline [4].