[NT/RBRC seminar] Weyl Anomalies of Defects and Boundaries

by Prof. Andrew O'Bannon (SUNY Old Westbury)

Friday 22 Mar 2024, 11:00 → 13:00 US/Eastern

Large seminar room (https://bnl.zoomgov.com/j/1614715193?pwd=WkwxODVWdzZzb29zQnZRVGp3VTBDQT09 )

Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) in even spacetime dimensions are characterized, in part, by Weyl anomaly coefficients- the coefficients of curvature invariants in the (expectation value of the) trace of the stress tensor. These coefficients often appear in various physical observables, such as stress tensor correlators, thermal entropy, universal contributions to entanglement entropy, and more. Some of them also obey powerful non-perturbative constraints, such as c-theorems. What if the CFT has a boundary or defect, however? How do these change the Weyl anomaly? Do they produce new terms in the Weyl anomaly, and if so, then do these new Weyl anomaly coefficients appear in any physical observables, or obey any constraints? In this talk, I will summarise the state of the art and the open questions in the our understanding of boundary and defect Weyl anomalies, with emphasis on two- and four-dimensional boundaries and defects.