Torsion and anomalies in the warped limit of Lifschitz theories

Abstract

Abstract We describe the physics of fermionic Lifschitz theories once the anisotropic scaling exponent is made arbitrarily small. In this limit the system acquires an enhanced (Carrollian) boost symmetry. We show, both through the explicit computation of the path integral Jacobian and through the solution of the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions, that the translation symmetry in the anisotropic direction becomes anomalous. This turns out to be a mixed anomaly between boosts and translations. In a Newton-Cartan formulation of the space-time geometry such anomaly is sourced by torsion. We use these results to give an effective field theory description of the anomalous transport coefficients, which were originally computed through Kubo formulas in [1]. Along the way we provide a link with warped CFTs.

Keywords

• Anomalies in Field and String Theories
• Space-Time Symmetries
• Conformal Field Theory