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arXiv · 1704.05210

Note on Weyl versus Conformal Invariance in Field Theory

Feng Wu
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Abstract

It was argued recently that conformal invariance in flat spacetime implies Weyl invariance in a general curved background for unitary theories and possible anomalies in the Weyl variation of scalar operators are identified. We argue that generically unitarity alone is not sufficient for a conformal field theory to be Weyl invariant. Furthermore, we show explicitly that when a unitary conformal field theory couples to gravity in a Weyl invariant way, each primary scalar operator that is either relevant or marginal in the unitary conformal field theory corresponds to a Weyl-covariant operator in the curved background.

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Feng Wu. 2017-12-19. Note on Weyl versus Conformal Invariance in Field Theory. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc%2Fs10052-017-5463-8

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