Conserved and non-conserved Noether currents from the quantum effective action


Abstract in English

The quantum effective action yields equations of motion and correlation functions including all quantum corrections. We discuss here how it encodes also Noether currents at the full quantum level. This holds both for covariantly conserved currents associated to real symmetries that leave the action invariant as well as for non-conserved Noether currents associated to extended symmetry transformations which change the action, but in a specific way. We discuss then in particular symmetries and extended symmetries associated to space-time geometry for relativistic quantum field theories. These encompass local dilatations or Weyl gauge transformation, local Lorentz transformations and local shear transformations. Together they constitute the symmetry group of the frame bundle GL$(d)$. The corresponding non-conserved Noether currents are the dilatation or Weyl current, the spin current and the shear current for which divergence-type equations of motion are obtained from the quantum effective action.

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