ITP|
|
SS23 – Abstract
Mikhail Shaposhnikov
(EPFL Schweiz)
22.5.2023
Anomaly-free scale symmetry and gravity (PRETALK for students at 15:30 h)
What is the global symmetry of Nature? In the absence of gravity, the most obvious answer to this question is given by special relativity and is associated with the Poincare transformations. As was noted a long time ago, the free Maxwell equations have a wider symmetry group - the 15 parameters conformal invariance, containing in addition to ten Poincare generators, four special conformal transformations, and dilatations. Dilatations change the length of the rulers, while special conformal transformation can bend the lines but do not alter the angles between them. Could it be that the symmetry of all interactions is conformal? We show that conformal symmetry can be made free from the quantum anomaly only in the flat space. The presence of gravity would reduce the global symmetry group of the fundamental theory to the scale invariance only. We discuss how the effective Lagrangian respecting the scale symmetry can be used for the description of particle phenomenology and cosmology.
