The trace anomaly of the (2,0) tensor multiplet in background gauge fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates the trace anomaly of the six-dimensional (2,0) tensor multiplet with background gauge fields, revealing a strong-coupling coefficient that differs from weak-coupling by a factor of 4N^3, using both free-field and AdS/CFT methods.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of the trace anomaly structure at weak and strong coupling for the (2,0) tensor multiplet in six dimensions.

Findings

Only one anomaly structure is non-zero at strong coupling.

The anomaly coefficient at strong coupling is 4N^3 times the weak-coupling value.

The results are relevant for understanding R-current anomalies in the (2,0) multiplet.

Abstract

We study the trace anomaly of the (2,0) tensor multiplet in d=6 in the presence of a background SO(5) vector field acting as a source for the R-current. Using both a free-field theory calculation and AdS_7/CFT_6 correspondence, we find that only one of the two possible anomaly structures is non-zero and that its coefficient at strong-coupling differs by the well-known overall factor 4N^3 from the corresponding weak coupling result. We also discuss the relevance of our result to studies of the R-current anomaly in the (2,0) multiplet.