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Two-dimensional Lorentz-Weyl anomaly and gravitational Chern-Simons theory

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Abstract

Two-dimensional chiral fermions and bosons, more generally conformal blocks of two-dimensional conformal field theories, exhibit Weyl-, Lorentz- and mixed Lorentz-Weyl anomalies. A novel way of computing these anomalies for a system of chiral bosons of arbitrary conformal spinj is sketched. It is shown that the Lorentz- and mixed Lorentz-Weyl anomalies of these theories can be cancelled by the anomalies of a three-dimensional classical Chern-Simons action for the spin connection, expressed in terms of the dreibein field. Some tentative applications of this result to string theory are indicated.

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Communicated by K. Gawedzki

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Chamseddine, A.H., Fröhlich, J. Two-dimensional Lorentz-Weyl anomaly and gravitational Chern-Simons theory. Commun.Math. Phys. 147, 549–562 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02097242

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02097242

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