The Energy-Momentum Tensor in Field Theory I

This is the first of three papers on the short-distance properties of the energy-momentum tensor in field theory. We study the energy-momentum tensor for renormalized field theory in curved space. We postulate an exact Ward identity of the energy-momentum tensor. By studying the consistency of the Ward identity with the renormalization group and diffeomorphisms, we determine the short-distance singularities in the product of the energy-momentum tensor and an arbitrary composite field in terms of a connection for the space of composite fields over theory space. We discuss examples from the four-dimensional $\phi^4$ theory. In the forthcoming two papers we plan to discuss the torsion and curvature of the connection.