On the decomposition of global conformal invariants. II (Q850013)

Let \((M^n, g^n)\) be a compact orientable Riemannian manifold of even dimension \(n\). The structure of scalar Riemannian invariants \(P(g^n)\) of weight \(-n\) which locally depend only on the curvature tensor \(R_{ijkl}\) of \(M^n\) is studied. It is supposed that they are linear combinations of suitable complete contractions and the integral \(\int _{M^n} P(g^n) \,dV_{g^n}\) is invariant under conformal changes of the metric. By the main result a proof of the conjecture emanating from \textit{S. Deser} and \textit{A. Schwimmer} [Phys. Lett. B 309, 279--284 (1993)] is here completed, a previous partial confirmation of it is provided in the first part of this work. A basic tool in proving these results is the super divergence formula which in particular applies to the operator \[ I_{gn}(\phi) = e^{n\phi(x)} P(e^{2\phi(x)} g^n) - P(g^n), \phi \in C^{\infty} (M^n) \] that measures the non-conformally invariant part of \(P(g^n)\). For Part I, see Adv. Math. (2) 170, No.~3, 1241--1306 (2009; Zbl 1190.53028).