The anomaly field theories of six-dimensional (2,0) superconformal theories

Abstract

We construct 7-dimensional quantum field theories encoding the anomalies of conformal field theories with (2,0) supersymmetry in six dimensions. We explain how the conformal blocks of the (2,0) theories arise in this context. A result of independent interest is a detailed specification of the data required to define a (2,0) theory with topologically non-trivial spacetime and R-symmetry bundle.

arXiv comment51 pages. v2: references added, comment in the introduction about the conformal anomaly modified