Trace and chiral anomalies in string and ordinary field theory from Feynman diagrams for nonlinear sigma models

DOI10.1016/S0550-3213(97)00826-2zbMATH Open0945.81062arXivhep-th/9711088OpenAlexW1998381205MaRDI QIDQ1384565FDOQ1384565

Authors: Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, Agapitos Hatzinikitas, Koenraad Schalm 

Publication date: 13 April 1998

Published in: Nuclear Physics B (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We write general one-loop anomalies of string field theory as path integrals on a torus for the corresponding nonlinear sigma model. This extends the work of Alvarez-Gaum'e and Witten from quantum mechanics to two dimensions. Higher world-volume loops contribute in general to nontopological anomalies and a formalism to compute these is developed. We claim that (i) for general anomalies one should not use the propagator widely used in string theory but rather the one obtained by generalization from quantum mechanics, but (ii) for chiral anomalies both propagators give the same result. As a check of this claim in a simpler model we compute trace anomalies in quantum mechanics. The propagator with a center-of-mass zero mode indeed does not give the correct result for the trace anomaly while the propagator for fluctuations $q^i(au)$ satisfying $q^i(au=-1)=q^i(au=0)=0$ yields in $d=2$ and $d=4$ dimensions the correct results from two- and three-loop graphs. We then return to heterotic string theory and calculate the contributions to the anomaly from the different spin structures for $d=2$. We obtain agreement with the work of Pilch, Schellekens and Warner and that of Li in the sector with spacetime fermions. In the other sectors, where no explicit computations have been performed in the past and for which one needs higher loops, we find a genuine divergence, whose interpretation is unclear to us. We discuss whether or not this leads to a new anomaly.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9711088

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zbMATH Keywords

string field theoryone-loop anomalies

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Model quantum field theories (81T10) Feynman diagrams (81T18) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30) Anomalies in quantum field theory (81T50)

Cites Work

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• Theta functions, modular invariance, and strings
• Loop calculations in quantum mechanical nonlinear sigma models with fermions and applications to anomalies
• Theory of Charged Vector Mesons Interacting with the Electromagnetic Field
• The Dirac-Ramond operator in string theory and loop space index theorems

Cited In (5)

• Field-diffeomorphism anomalies in the nonlinear σ model
• BRST treatment of zero modes for the worldline formalism in curved space
• Trace anomalies and the string-inspired definition of quantum-mechanical path integrals in curved space.
• Loop calculations in quantum mechanical nonlinear sigma models with fermions and applications to anomalies
• The \(d=6\) trace anomaly from quantum field theory four-loop graphs in one dimension

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