Pith. sign in

REVIEW 16 cited by

Scale invariance vs conformal invariance

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 1302.0884 v4 pith:JDASN6AA submitted 2013-02-04 hep-th cond-mat.stat-mech

classification hep-thcond-mat.stat-mech
keywords invariancescaleconformaldimensionfieldtheoriesenhancementinvariant
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal

Signed reviews

No signed human review yet.

0 comments
abstract

In this review article, we discuss the distinction and possible equivalence between scale invariance and conformal invariance in relativistic quantum field theories. Under some technical assumptions, we can prove that scale invariant quantum field theories in $d=2$ dimension necessarily possess the enhanced conformal symmetry. The use of the conformal symmetry is well appreciated in the literature, but the fact that all the scale invariant phenomena in $d=2$ dimension enjoy the conformal property relies on the deep structure of the renormalization group. The outstanding question is whether this feature is specific to $d=2$ dimension or it holds in higher dimensions, too. As of January 2014, our consensus is that there is no known example of scale invariant but non-conformal field theories in $d=4$ dimension under the assumptions of (1) unitarity, (2) Poincar\'e invariance (causality), (3) discrete spectrum in scaling dimension, (4) existence of scale current and (5) unbroken scale invariance in the vacuum. We have a perturbative proof of the enhancement of conformal invariance from scale invariance based on the higher dimensional analogue of Zamolodchikov's $c$-theorem, but the non-perturbative proof is yet to come. As a reference we have tried to collect as many interesting examples of scale invariance in relativistic quantum field theories as possible in this article. We give a complementary holographic argument based on the energy-condition of the gravitational system and the space-time diffeomorphism in order to support the claim of the symmetry enhancement. We believe that the possible enhancement of conformal invariance from scale invariance reveals the sublime nature of the renormalization group and space-time with holography.

Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.

Forward citations

Cited by 16 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Cohomological beta function

    math-ph 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    The leading Cardy beta-function coefficient for J¯J deformations of 2D CFTs is the class of a Chevalley-Eilenberg 2-cocycle obstructing deformation of the Virasoro module.

  2. Direct Experimental Test of Conformal Invariance via Grazing Scattering: A Proposal for X-ray and Neutron Experiments

    cond-mat.stat-mech 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    The paper proposes an experimental protocol for grazing-incidence X-ray or neutron scattering that would directly test conformal invariance in critical phenomena by verifying a momentum-space differential constraint o...

  3. The scheme independent 3-sphere free energy is not a monotone F-function

    hep-th 2026-03 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    The scheme-independent 3-sphere free energy decreases at O(g^2) under relevant deformations of a 3D CFT but is not monotone along the full RG flow of the free massive scalar on S^3.

  4. Non-Hermitian free-fermion critical systems and logarithmic conformal field theory

    cond-mat.str-el 2026-02 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    A PT-symmetric non-Hermitian free-fermion field theory realizes logarithmic conformal field theory with central charge c=-2 via a biorthogonal Virasoro algebra construction.

  5. Disturbing news about the $d=2+\epsilon$ expansion

    hep-th 2025-05 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    A protected operator forces the O(N) nonlinear sigma model fixed point in 2+epsilon dimensions to be a different CFT family from the Wilson-Fisher O(N) fixed point for finite N.

  6. AdS-GNN -- a Conformally Equivariant Graph Neural Network

    cs.LG 2025-05 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    Point clouds are lifted to Anti-de Sitter space and message passing uses the AdS proper distance, producing a network approximately equivariant under the full conformal group.

  7. Parisi-Sourlas Supertranslation and Scale without Conformal symmetry

    hep-th 2024-11 accept novelty 7.0 of 10

    Supertranslation symmetry protects the virial current's scaling dimension, giving eight perturbative scale-invariant but non-conformal fixed points in a quartic superfield model.

  8. The state/defect correspondence

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    Establishes a one-to-one correspondence between states and p-dimensional defects in higher-form Maxwell theories via an extended Kac-Moody algebra generated by conserved charges from mixed anomalies, mapping dressed W...

  9. Scale-Invariant Open Quantum Systems

    hep-ph 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    Scale-invariant open quantum systems are universally described by unparticle baths with scaling dimension d_U, producing non-Markovian kernels, a fractional Caldeira-Leggett master equation, and phase transitions at d...

  10. Does hot QCD have a conformal manifold in the chiral limit?

    hep-th 2026-03 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    An 't Hooft anomaly at general imaginary baryon chemical potential constrains the QCD chiral transition to three minimal CFT scenarios, with the favored one for N_f >= 3 featuring a conformal manifold of theta_B-depen...

  11. Holographic Conformal Anomaly and a-Theorem in 5D Scalar-Tensor Theories from Heterotic Strings

    hep-th 2025-05 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    The paper reports closed-form central charges a and c for a string-derived EdGB theory and a Lovelock-Horndeski theory, plus a holographic a-theorem check for the latter.

  12. Nonadditivity in Quantum Field Theory: Replica Energies, Scaling Filters, and the Renormalization Group

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    The replica-energy filter (1 − d^{-1} L ∂_L) on log Z isolates universal subextensive data in thermal QFT: central charges, sphere free energies, topological degeneracies, fracton degeneracies, and the Euler anomaly.

  13. Multi-Centered Black Hole Index from a Superconformal Quiver Index

    hep-th 2025-09 reject novelty 5.0 of 10

    The gauged superconformal quiver index localizes onto collinear multi-centered saddles, but its claimed reproduction of the Manschot-Pioline-Sen index remains a conjecture, not a derivation.

  14. Probing radiative electroweak symmetry breaking with colliders and gravitational waves

    hep-ph 2024-08 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Radiative electroweak symmetry breaking with a logarithmic potential yields analytical vacuum solutions, four thermal history patterns, and supercooled FOPT gravitational waves whose signals combined with collider dat...

  15. The Weak Gravity Conjecture in Asymptotically Safe Quantum Gravity

    hep-ph 2025-04 reject novelty 4.0 of 10

    Using scale-dependent couplings in asymptotically safe gravity, the paper claims corrections to black hole extremality can strengthen or weaken the Weak Gravity Conjecture, but the derivation is invalid at the extrema...

  16. Progress in Einstein-Cartan gravity

    hep-th 2025-06 conditional novelty 3.0 of 10

    A review of Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity claiming that one extra axion-like scalar can unify the strong CP and hierarchy puzzles, with the hierarchy explained by tiny Lorentz gauge couplings.

Pith tools