On renormalization group flows and the a-theorem in 6d

We study the extension of the approach to the a-theorem of Komargodski and Schwimmer to quantum field theories in d = 6 spacetime dimensions. The dilaton effective action is obtained up to 6th order in derivatives. The anomaly flow a(UV) - a(IR) is the coefficient of the 6-derivative Euler anomaly term in this action. It then appears at order p(6) in the low energy limit of n-point scattering amplitudes of the dilaton for n >= 4. The detailed structure with the correct anomaly coefficient is confirmed by direct calculation in two examples: (i) the case of explicitly broken conformal symmetry is illustrated by the free massive scalar field, and (ii) the case of spontaneously broken conformal symmetry is demonstrated by the (2,0) theory on the Coulomb branch. In the latter example, the dilaton is a dynamical field so 4-derivative terms in the action also affect n-point amplitudes at order p(6). The calculation in the (2,0) theory is done by analyzing an M5-brane probe in AdS(7) x S-4. Given the confirmation in two distinct models, we attempt to use dispersion relations to prove that the anomaly flow is positive in general. Unfortunately the 4-point matrix element of the Euler anomaly is proportional to stu and vanishes for forward scattering. Thus the optical theorem cannot be applied to show positivity. Instead the anomaly flow is given by a dispersion sum rule in which the integrand does not have definite sign. It may be possible to base a proof of the a-theorem on the analyticity and unitarity properties of the 6-point function, but our preliminary study reveals some difficulties.