Conformal Gauge Theory: Proving SO(2,4)*diff Invariance

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the invariance of the action derived from conformal gauge theory under the groups SO(2,4) and diffeomorphism (diff). Participants explore foundational concepts, references, and mathematical structures relevant to this topic, which is situated within theoretical physics, particularly in the context of gauge theories and superconformal algebra.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks guidance on proving the invariance of the action in conformal gauge theory under SO(2,4)*diff, referencing papers by E.A. Ivanov and J. Niederle.
  • Another participant questions the foundational knowledge of the original poster and asks for a sketch of their reasoning regarding the hypothesis of invariance.
  • There is a suggestion that the discussion may relate to N=4 super Yang-Mills (SYM) and its invariance under the superconformal algebra.
  • A participant mentions their background in Poincaré gauge theory, noting that they found the resulting action to be equivalent to the Einstein-Hilbert action, and expresses their current focus on conformal gauge theory.
  • One participant clarifies that they are interested in gauging the conformal group and studying the resulting action's invariance under the diffeomorphism group, seeking references to support their proof.
  • Another participant suggests the SUGRA book by Van Proeyen as a detailed resource on superconformal tensor calculus.
  • A detailed mathematical construction is provided, including the definition of the infinitesimal generators of SO(2,4) and the formulation of an SO(2,4)-valued connection, along with the expression for a diffeomorphism-invariant action.
  • It is noted that the Einstein-Hilbert action can also be derived from the action of a conformal scalar field through gauge fixing, with a reference to Van Proeyen's work.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains multiple competing views and interpretations regarding the invariance of the action and the relevant mathematical frameworks. There is no consensus on the best approach or reference material to prove the invariance.

Contextual Notes

Participants express varying levels of familiarity with the foundational concepts, and there are references to specific mathematical structures and actions that may depend on particular definitions or assumptions not fully articulated in the discussion.

shereen1
Messages
50
Reaction score
1
Dear all
I am trying to prove that the action resulting from studying conformal gauge theory is invariant under SO(2,4)*diff. Can anyone give me a hint to start from thank. I considering several papers: E.A.Ivanov and J.Niederie and others...
 
Physics news on Phys.org
What kind of foundation of knowledge do you have already? Can you sketch the reasons that you think this hypothesis might be true and provide links to the papers you've looked at?
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: shereen1
You mean N=4 SYM and its invariance under the superconformal algebra?
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: shereen1
ohwilleke said:
What kind of foundation of knowledge do you have already? Can you sketch the reasons that you think this hypothesis might be true and provide links to the papers you've looked at?
Hello
In fact i have studied poincare gauge theory and i deduced that the resulted action is the same as the einstein hilbert one. So currently i am trying to study conformal gauge theory.
I am using: E.A.Ivanov and J. Niederle paper
Thank you
 
haushofer said:
You mean N=4 SYM and its invariance under the superconformal algebra?
no i mean gauging conformal group and studying the resulting action if invariant under diffeomorphism group. Do you have any idea about a refernce that could help me in proving this?
Thank you
 
You mean superconformal tensor calculus then, I guess. The SUGRA-book by Van Proeyen and his online lecture notes treat this in great detail.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Urs Schreiber and shereen1
shereen1 said:
no i mean gauging conformal group and studying the resulting action if invariant under diffeomorphism group. Do you have any idea about a refernce that could help me in proving this?
Thank you

By construction, the resulting action is invariant under diffeomorphsim, just like the Yang-Mills action on curved spacetime. Collect the 15 infinitesimal generators of SO(2,4) as J_{A} = \{ P_{a} , M_{ab}, K_{a}, D \} , where the index a = 0,1,2,3 is raised by the inverse Minkowski metric \eta^{ab}, then rewrite the Lie algebra so(2,4) in the standard form [J_{A},J_{B}] = C_{AB}{}^{C}J_{C} . The Cartan-Killing metric on so(2,4) is given in terms of the structure constants as G_{AB} = C_{AE}{}^{D} C_{BD}{}^{E} .
In the basis J_{A} , \ \ A = 1,2, \cdots , 15 , define an so(2,4)-valued connection \mathbb{A}_{\mu}(x) = A^{C}_{\mu}(x) J_{C} \equiv e^{a}_{\mu}(x) P_{a} + \omega^{ab}_{\mu}(x) M_{ab} + c^{a}_{\mu}(x) K_{a} + \alpha_{\mu}(x) D . The components of the field tensor \mathbb{F}_{\mu\nu} = F_{\mu\nu}^{C}J_{C} are given as usual by F^{C}_{\mu\nu} = \partial_{\mu}A_{\nu}^{C} - \partial_{\nu}A_{\mu}^{C} + C_{BD}{}^{C} A_{\mu}^{B}A_{\nu}^{D} . Now you can write down the following diffeomorphsim-invariant action
S = - \frac{1}{2 \alpha^{2}_{YM}} \int d^{4}x \ \sqrt{-g} \ g^{\mu\rho}g^{\nu\sigma} \ G_{AB} F^{A}_{\mu\nu}F^{B}_{\rho\sigma} .
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: shereen1, Ravi Mohan, dextercioby and 1 other person
One can also obtain the EH-action by writing down the action of a conformal scalar field and gaugefixing this field by a local dilation. See van proeyen his sugrabook.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: shereen1

Similar threads

  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
1K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
613
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
5K