Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / iii / Paper 312 / 1 / e / Solution

Constant $c$ and $\lambda$ preserve the six spatial Euclidean isometries, namely three spatial translations and three spatial rotations. They also preserve the de Sitter dilation $(\tau ,\mathbf{x})\mapsto (s\tau ,s\mathbf{x})$, under which an equal-time correlator transforms covariantly together with its observation time. For generic $c\ne 1$, the preferred propagation speed breaks the three special conformal transformations. The correlators therefore obey seven of the ten de Sitter isometries. When $c=1$, the action is fully de Sitter invariant and all ten are restored.