On the $a$-theorem in the Conformal Window

Abstract

We show that for four dimensional gauge theories in the conformal window, the Euler anomaly, known as the $a$-function, can be computed from a $2$-point function of the trace of the energy momentum tensor making it more amenable to lattice simulations. Concretely, we derive an expression for the $a$-function as an integral over the renormalisation scale of quantities related to $2$- and $3$-point functions of the trace of the energy momentum tensor.The crucial ingredients are that the square of the field strength tensor is an exactly marginal operator at the Gaussian fixed point and that the relevant $3$-point correlation function is finite when resummed to all orders. This allows us to define a scheme for which the $3$-point contribution vanishes, thereby explicitly establishing the strong version of the $a$-theorem for this class of theories.

17 pp + refs + 4 fig, v3: Appendix on the conventions and new figures included for clarity, new non-trivial example provided

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