COORDINATE-INVARIANT PATH INTEGRAL METHODS IN CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY

DOI10.1142/S0217751X06031739zbMATH Open1099.81049arXivhep-th/0412031OpenAlexW3102483981MaRDI QIDQ5484930FDOQ5484930

Authors: André J. van Tonder 

Publication date: 21 August 2006

Published in: International Journal of Modern Physics A (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We present a coordinate-invariant approach, based on a Pauli-Villars measure, to the definition of the path integral in two-dimensional conformal field theory. We discuss some advantages of this approach compared to the operator formalism and alternative path integral approaches. We show that our path integral measure is invariant under conformal transformations and field reparametrizations, in contrast to the measure used in the Fujikawa calculation, and we show the agreement, despite different origins, of the conformal anomaly in the two approaches. The natural energy-momentum in the Pauli-Villars approach is a true coordinate-invariant tensor quantity, and we discuss its nontrivial relationship to the corresponding non-tensor object arising in the operator formalism, thus providing a novel explanation within a path integral context for the anomalous Ward identities of the latter. We provide a direct calculation of the nontrivial contact terms arising in expectation values of certain energy-momentum products, and we use these to perform a simple consistency check confirming the validity of the change of variables formula for the path integral. Finally, we review the relationship between the conformal anomaly and the energy-momentum two-point functions in our formalism.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0412031

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zbMATH Keywords

anomalyconformal field theorypath integral

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Two-dimensional field theories, conformal field theories, etc. in quantum mechanics (81T40) Anomalies in quantum field theory (81T50) Path integrals in quantum mechanics (81S40)

Cites Work

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory
• On the Invariant Regularization in Relativistic Quantum Theory
• Supersymmetry in anti-de Sitter space
• A proof of the irreversibility of renormalization group flows in four dimensions

Cited In (5)

• WORLDSHEET COVARIANT PATH INTEGRAL QUANTIZATION OF STRINGS
• Conformally invariant path integral formulation of the Wess-Zumino-Witten\(\to\) Liouville reduction
• Coordinate independence of path integrals in one-dimensional target space
• Dependent coordinates in path integral measure factorization
• Regularizing Feynman path integrals using the generalized Kontsevich-Vishik trace

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