Antisymmetric tensor field and Cheshire Cat smile of the local conformal symmetry

Abstract

AbstractThe conformal version of the antisymmetric second-order tensor field in four spacetime dimensions does not have gauge invariance extensively discussed in the literature for more than half a century. Our first observation is that, when coupled to fermions, only the conformal version provides renormalizability of the theory at the one-loop level. General considerations are supported by the derivation of one-loop divergences in the fermionic sector, indicating good chances for asymptotic freedom. The arguments concerning one-loop renormalizability remain valid in the presence of self-interactions and the masses for both fermion and antisymmetric tensor fields. In the flat spacetime limit, even regardless the conformal symmetry has gone, there is an expectation to meet renormalizability in all loop orders.