F-Theorem without Supersymmetry

TL;DR

This paper provides non-supersymmetric tests of the F-theorem in three-dimensional field theories, showing that the free energy on S^3 decreases along RG flows in various non-supersymmetric models.

Contribution

It extends the validation of the F-theorem to non-supersymmetric theories through perturbative and large N analyses, broadening its applicability.

Findings

Free energy decreases monotonically in perturbative RG flows.

IR free energy is smaller than UV free energy in large N theories.

Evidence supports a generalized decrease of |Z| in odd-dimensional theories.

Abstract

The conjectured F-theorem for three-dimensional field theories states that the finite part of the free energy on S^3 decreases along RG trajectories and is stationary at the fixed points. In previous work various successful tests of this proposal were carried out for theories with {\cal N}=2 supersymmetry. In this paper we perform more general tests that do not rely on supersymmetry. We study perturbatively the RG flows produced by weakly relevant operators and show that the free energy decreases monotonically. We also consider large N field theories perturbed by relevant double trace operators, free massive field theories, and some Chern-Simons gauge theories. In all cases the free energy in the IR is smaller than in the UV, consistent with the F-theorem. We discuss other odd-dimensional Euclidean theories on S^d and provide evidence that (-1)^{(d-1)/2} \log |Z| decreases along RG flow; in the particular case d=1 this is the well-known g-theorem.