Questions tagged [quantum-anomalies]
This tag is for anomalies in a symmetry, either in classical or quantum theories. DO NOT USE THIS TAG for anomalies in a measurement.
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Is there a conceptual inverse of anomalies i.e. a notion of quantum enhancement of symmetries?
Anomalies usually occur when a classical symmetry ceases to be a symmetry of the theory when quantized. Are there quantum systems with certain symmetries which cease to exist when you take classical ...
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Can cut-off regularisation cause a Poincaré anomaly?
Momentum cut-off regularisation leads to non-covariant results, i.e., it breaks the Poincaré covariance of the theory. Is there any guarantee that Poincaré covariance is always restored when we remove ...
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Anomalies in QFT
I am a first year PhD student in theoretical physics with a background in QFT (up until relativistic fields, path integrals and gauge theories and anomalies) and some algebraic topology but my ...
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Chiral anomalies
Recently I have read that there is contraction of chiral anomalies in SM. But people are working on chiral anomalies theory. So I have the question: what is the importance of development of the theory ...
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What is the axial current?
The axial current is defined as
$$j^\mu_5 = \bar{\psi} \gamma^\mu \gamma_5 \psi.$$
This quantity is important when studying anomalies. Explicitly working out components, the axial current is just the ...
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Confusion about two definitions of anomalies
As I am currently studying for an exam about quantum field theory and string theory, I got confused about the notion of "anomalies" and how they are actually defined. Similar questions have already ...
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Low energy description of Symmetry Enriched Topological phases
Prelude: low energy description of Symmetry Protected Topological (SPT) phases
It is known [1] that the low energy effective description of SPT phases, protected by a group $G$ is an invertible ...
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Among free quantum field theories, do all 't Hooft anomalies arise from chiral fermions?
In quantum field theory, a global symmetry group that can't be gauged is said to have an 't Hooft anomaly. One of the most familiar examples is the free massless Dirac fermion in $3+1$ dimensional ...
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Theta Vacuum of Yang-Mills theory and Baryon number violation
Background 1. In classical SU(N) Yang-Mills theories, there are a countably infinite number of homotopically inequivalent gauge field configurations of zero energy labelled by a winding number $n\in \...
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Why does tachyon arise in bosonic string theory?
I am looking for precise mathematical and physical reasons which cause the presence of tachyon in bosonic string theory(specially closed bosonic string theory). Has it to do with the specific form of ...
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How is the pion related to spontaneous symmetry breaking in QCD?
In chapter 19 of An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory by Peskin & Schroeder, they discuss spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) at low energies in massless (or nearly massless) QCD, given by
$$\...
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Choice of basis for Fujikawa method to derive chiral anomaly
I am studying the Fujikawa method of determining the chiral anomalies in a $U(1)$ theory. As we know the basis vectors selected are the eigenstates of the Dirac operator. One of the reasons given is ...
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Anomaly, symmetries, and Ward identity
I'm trying to bring together and understand the concepts of anomaly, quantum symmetries, and Ward (or Ward-Takahashi, or Slavnov-Taylor) identity in QFT. I think I know what the ideas mean, but I'm ...
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Anomaly is due to the noninvariance of the path-integral under a symmetry. Is the noninvariance reflected on 1PI effective action?
When a symmetry is anomalous, the path integral $Z=\int\mathcal{D}\phi e^{iS[\phi]}$ is not invariant under that group of symmetry transformations $G$. This is because though the classical action $S[\...
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Quantum Anomalies and Quantum Symmetries
In Quantum Field Theories (QFT) there is a well known phenomenon of anomalies, where a classical symmetry is broken in the quantum theory due to a so called anomaly. This symmetry breaking can be ...
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