Conformal invariance Definition and 13 Threads

I'm studying CFT, and I find the lecture notes and books really confusing and devoid of explanations (more details). In a scale transformation ##x' = \lambda x##, the field ##\phi(x)## should also be affected by the scale transformation, i.e., ##\phi'(x') = \phi'(\lambda x) = \lambda^{-\Delta}...

It can be shown mathematically that the scalar massless wave equation is conformally invariant. However, doing so is rather tedious and muted in terms of physical understanding. As such, is there a physically intuitive explanation as to why the scalar massless wave equation is conformally invariant?

Homework Statement The exercise needs us to first show that ##P^2## (with ##P_\mu=i\partial_\mu##) is not a Casimir invariant of the Conformal group. From this, it wants us to deduce that only massless theories could be conformally invariant. Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I...

Hello guys, I'm wondering if there are some important restrctions on the 'applicability' of first order perturbation theory. I know there's a way to deduce Schwarzschild's solution to Einstein's field equations that assummes one can decompose the 4D metric ##g_{\mu\nu}## as Minkowski...

[Moderator's note: changed thread title to be more descriptive of the actual question.] Consider Maxwell's action ##S=\int L## over Minkovski space, where the Lagrangian density is ##L = -\frac{1}{4}F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}##, and the Electromagnetic tensor is given by ##F^{\mu\nu} = \partial^\mu...

Let us see how the line element transforms under conformal transformations. Consider the Minkovski metric gij, a line element ds2=dxigijdxj, and a conformal transformation δk(x)=ak + λ xk + Λklxl + x2sk - 2xkx⋅s We have δ(dxk)=dδ(x)k=λ dxk + Λkldxl + 2 x⋅dx sk - 2dxkx⋅s - 2xkdx⋅s And so the...

In string theory, the Neveu-Schwarz B-field appears in the action: S_{NS}=\frac{1}{4\pi\alpha^\prime}\int d^2\xi\;\epsilon^{\mu\nu}B_{ij}\partial_\mu X^i\partial_\nu X^j. In Polchinski's text, the antisymmetric tensor appears in the form of \frac{1}{4\pi\alpha^\prime}\int...

Wald Appendix D talks on why g^{\mu\nu}\nabla_{\mu}\nabla_{\nu}\phi is not conformally invariant when n is not equal to 2. I want to prove that the Klein Gordon Action (V=0) is not conformally invariant. However the term that I have in the action is just...

Hi, I'm very ashamed to not understand how even the simplest gluon amplitudes are conformally invariant. See eg http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0312171 pages 11-12. M(1^-,2^-,3^+)=\delta(\sum_i \lambda_i\tilde{\lambda}_i)\frac{\langle12\rangle^4}{\langle12\rangle \langle...

Hi, folks. I hope this is the right forum for this question. I'm not actually taking any classes, but I am doing self-study using D'Inverno's Introducing Einstein's Relativity. I have a solution, and I want someone to check it for me. Homework Statement Prove that the null geodesics of two...

Hi! I have little questions about symmetries. I begin in the field, so... First about conformal symmetry. As I studied, in 2-d, a transformation (\tau, \sigma) \to (\tau', \sigma') changing the metric by a multiplicative factor implies that the transformation (\tau, \sigma) \to (\tau'...

I have noticed that questions about this subject get either ignored or receive some confusing answers. So I decided to write a "brief" but self-contained introduction to the subject. I'm sure you will find it useful. It is going to take about 13 or 14 post to complete the work. Be patient with...

In trying to get my head round GR and quantum gravity, I'm puzzled about the following questions: Is the gauge group for gravity defined as the group of all possible Weyl tensors on a general 4D Riemann manifold? How is this group defined in matrix algebra? Is it a subgroup of GL(4). How do...