Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2016 1 c Solution 2026-10-25
First take the trace in four spacetime dimensions:The product rule gives . For the massless equation of motion, , soBoth coefficients vanish forThe minus sign follows from the order used in the question's stress-energy tensor improvement. Commuting partial derivatives shows that this improvement has identically zero divergence, so it preserves the conservation law.
Trace anomaly 2026-10-25
A trace anomaly is a quantum contribution to the trace of a stress-energy tensor which was traceless on shell in the classical theory. Running renormalized couplings can supply such a contribution through their beta functions; curvature-dependent contributions can occur as well. Classical stress-energy tensor improvement alone does not remove quantum scale dependence.