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1 vote
1 answer
256 views

Is string theory self-consistent? (Conformal anomaly)

Recently I attended a very short course on string theory. We went through the standard presentation in light-cone gauge for brevity. We ‘derived’ the Einstein field equation in the following manner. ...
thedoctar's user avatar
  • 516
3 votes
1 answer
375 views

Does the vanishing of the one-loop beta-function imply no running to all orders?

This question sounds ridiculous, but bear with me. I am having a hard time reconciling the following two facts: Classical global symmetries can become anomalous upon quantization, and the anomalous ...
Bob Knighton's user avatar
  • 8,490
2 votes
0 answers
144 views

Anomalies from a Renormaization Group Equation (RGE)

This is an approach to anomalies which seems unfamiliar to me.. Firstly what is this function $W$ which seems to satisfy the equation, $\frac{\partial W }{\partial g^{\mu \nu} } = \langle T_{\mu \nu}...
Student's user avatar
  • 4,561
6 votes
0 answers
362 views

Conformal anomaly of free scalar in 2D

I'm trying to calculate the conformal anomaly $c$ of a free scalar on a 2-sphere. I've seen other, indirect ways to do this, but since this is a free theory I feel like it should be possible to see ...
user6013's user avatar
  • 913