Conformal anomaly of (2,0) tensor multiplet in six dimensions and AdS/CFT correspondence

In a classical conformal invariant supersymmetric gauge theory, the chiral R-symmetry current, the supersymmetry current and the energy-momentum tensor constitute a supercurrent multiplet. There are two different superconformal anoamly multiplets in four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories, one originating from the supersymmetric gauge dynamics and the consequent nonvanishing \beta-function, and the other one coming from the coupling of the supercurrent multiplet to the...

Some aspects of the $D=6, (2,0)$ tensor multiplet are discussed. Its formulation as an analytic superfield on a suitably defined superspace and its superconformal properties are reviewed. Powers of the field strength superfield define a series of superconformal fields which correspond to the KK multiplets of D=11 supergravity on an $AdS_7\xz S^4$ background. Correlation functions of these operators are briefly discussed.

We introduce the analytic superspace formalism for six-dimensional $(N,0)$ superconformal field theories. Concentrating on the $(2,0)$ theory we write down the Ward identities for correlation functions in the theory and show how to solve them. We then consider the four-point function of four energy momentum multiplets in detail, explicitly solving the Ward identities in this case. We expand the four-point function using both Schur polynomials, which lead to a simple formula i...

Considering arbitrary conformal field theories in general (non-conformally flat) backgrounds, we adopt a dimensional regularization approach to obtain stress tensors from Weyl anomalies. The results of type A anomaly-induced stress tensors in four and six-dimensions generalize the previous results calculated in a conformally flat background. On the other hand, regulators are needed to have well-defined type B anomaly-induced stress tensors. We also discuss ambiguities related...

We consider a $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS solution for a D3 brane probe in AdS$_5 \times S^5$ that has world-volume geometry of AdS$_3 \times S^1$. It intersects the boundary over a surface that represents a dimension 2 defect in the boundary N=4 SYM theory. The effective action of the probe brane is proportional to the logarithmically divergent volume of AdS$_3$ and may thus be interpreted as computing conformal anomaly of the supersymmetric $S^2$ defect. The classical action scales a...

In the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, we perform a direct computation in AdS_5 supergravity of the trace anomaly of a d=4, N=2 SCFT. We find agreement with the field theory result up to next to leading order in the 1/N expansion. In particular, the order N gravitational contribution to the anomaly is obtained from a Riemann tensor squared term in the 7-brane effective action deduced from heterotic - type I duality. We also discuss, in the AdS/CFT context, the order N ...

We calculate the integrated trace anomaly for a real spin-0 scalar field in six dimensions in a torsionless curved space without a boundary. We use a path integral approach for a corresponding supersymmetric quantum mechanical model. Weyl ordering the corresponding Hamiltonian in phase space, an extra two-loop counterterm ${1/8}\bigg(R + g^{ij} \Gamma^{l}_{k i} \Gamma^{k}_{l j} \bigg)$ is produced in the action. Applying a recursive method we evaluate the components of the me...

We describe the supersymmetric completion of several curvature-squared invariants for ${\cal N}=(1,0)$ supergravity in six dimensions. The construction of the invariants is based on a close interplay between superconformal tensor calculus and recently developed superspace techniques to study general off-shell supergravity-matter couplings. In the case of minimal off-shell Poincar\'e supergravity based on the dilaton-Weyl multiplet coupled to a linear multiplet as a conformal ...

In this note we clarify some issues in six-dimensional (1,0) supergravity coupled to vector and tensor multiplets. In particular, we show that, while the low-energy equations embody tensor-vector couplings that contribute only to gauge anomalies, the divergence of the energy-momentum tensor is properly non-vanishing. In addition, we show how to revert to a supersymmetric formulation in terms of covariant non-integrable field equations that embody corresponding covariant anoma...

I review the computation of the conformal anomaly of a Wilson surface observable in free two-form gauge theory in six dimensions.