h***@yahoo.com
2006-07-15 10:52:07 UTC
String theory takes a lot of its motivation fron the conformal anomaly,
and the way to get rid of it. Can somebody explain a non-string physicist
what the conformal anomaly is? (Wikipedia has an article about this, but
is has almost no content. Google search is not very helpful on the topic.)
Since an anomaly is a quantum effect that breaks a classical symmetry, is
there a way to make this effect tangible in the case of conformal
symmetry?
Is there a simple toy model, or a way to specify a simple conformal
transformation that is broken? The conformal group is quite large after
all; what is the simplest transformation that shows the anomaly (or do all
of them)?
The background of the question are a few comments from Lubos' blog, which
are intriguing for every interested physicist. I'm just thirsty to learn
more about the issue.
Heinz
and the way to get rid of it. Can somebody explain a non-string physicist
what the conformal anomaly is? (Wikipedia has an article about this, but
is has almost no content. Google search is not very helpful on the topic.)
Since an anomaly is a quantum effect that breaks a classical symmetry, is
there a way to make this effect tangible in the case of conformal
symmetry?
Is there a simple toy model, or a way to specify a simple conformal
transformation that is broken? The conformal group is quite large after
all; what is the simplest transformation that shows the anomaly (or do all
of them)?
The background of the question are a few comments from Lubos' blog, which
are intriguing for every interested physicist. I'm just thirsty to learn
more about the issue.
Heinz