Algebraic classification of Weyl anomalies in arbitrary dimensions.
Conformally invariant systems involving only dimensionless parameters are known to describe particle physics at very high energy. In the presence of an external gravitational field, the conformal symmetry may generalize to the Weyl invariance of classical massless field systems in interaction with gravity. In the quantum theory, the latter symmetry no longer survives: A Weyl anomaly appears. Anomalies are a cornerstone of quantum field theory, and, for the first time, a general, purely algebraic understanding of the universal structure of the Weyl anomalies is obtained, in arbitrary dimensions and independently of any regularization scheme.
Académie Wallonie-Bruxelles, Mécanique et Gravitation, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Avenue du Champ de Mars 6, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
Nicolas
N
Boulanger