Work

One ring to rule them all: a unified topological framework for 4D $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ superconformal anomalies

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: A bstract We present a unified topological description of anomalies that generalizes the Chern-Simons formulation of Yang-Mills anomalies to encompass all 4-dimensional $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ N = 1 superconformal anomalies. The key innovation is our characterization of anomalies through the constraint ideal in the polynomial ring of generalized curvatures and connections of the underlying symmetry (super)-Lie algebra. We demonstrate that anomalies in dimension d are captured by the cohomology H δ ( W d +2 ) of the generalized BRST operator δ acting on the fermion number d + 2 component of the constraint ideal W d +2 . While Yang-Mills anomalies correspond to invariant Chern curvature polynomials (where W d +2 reduces to homogeneous curvature polynomials), the constraint ideal for 4D (super)conformal gravity contains additional polynomials mixing curvatures and connections. This richer structure naturally explains the coexistence of both Chern-type ( a ) and non-Chern-type ( c ) anomalies in (super)conformal theories.

Source: Journal of High Energy Physics

DOI: 10.1007/jhep02(2026)148

Authors: Camillo Imbimbo, Ludovico Porro

Institutions: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova, University of Genoa

Language: English

Topic: Black Holes and Theoretical Physics

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Università degli Studi di Genova, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare

Award: G173855671