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arXiv · 2312.09308

Trace Anomalies and the Graviton-Dilaton Amplitude

Denis Karateev·Zohar Komargodski·João Penedones·Biswajit Sahoo
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Abstract

We consider 3+1 dimensional Quantum Field Theories (QFTs) coupled to the dilaton and the graviton. We show that the graviton-dilaton scattering amplitude receives a universal contribution which is helicity flipping and is proportional to $\Delta c-\Delta a$ along any RG flow, where $\Delta c$ and $\Delta a$ are the differences of the UV and IR $c$- and $a$-trace anomalies respectively. This allows us to relate $\Delta c-\Delta a$ to spinning massive states in the spectrum of the QFT. We test our predictions in two simple examples: in the theory of a massive free scalar and in the theory of a massive Dirac fermion (a more complicated example is provided in a companion paper [1]). We discuss possible applications.

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Denis Karateev, Zohar Komargodski, João Penedones, Biswajit Sahoo. 2023-12-14. Trace Anomalies and the Graviton-Dilaton Amplitude. https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.09308

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