F-theorem without supersymmetry

Abstract

The conjectured F-theorem for three-dimensional field theories states that the finite part of the free energy on S-3 decreases along RG trajectories and is stationary at the fixed points. In previous work various successful tests of this proposal were carried out for theories with N = 2 supersymmetry. In this paper we perform more general tests that do not rely on supersymmetry. We study perturbatively the RG flows produced by weakly relevant operators and show that the free energy decreases monotonically. We also consider large N field theories perturbed by relevant double trace operators, free massive field theories, and some non-Abelian gauge theories. In all cases the free energy in the IR is smaller than in the UV, consistent with the F-theorem. We discuss other odd-dimensional Euclidean theories on S-d and provide evidence that (-1)((d-1)/2) log vertical bar Z vertical bar decreases along RG flow; in the particular case d = 1 this is the well-known g-theorem.