Finite Action in d5 Gauged Supergravity and Dilatonic Conformal Anomaly for Dual Quantum Field Theory

TL;DR

The paper develops a holographic framework for dilatonic gauged supergravity with an arbitrary scalar potential, deriving finite bulk actions and a consistent boundary stress tensor via local surface counterterms in asymptotically AdS spaces. It computes the dilaton-dependent Weyl anomaly for dual two- and four-dimensional QFTs, proposes dilaton-based candidate c-functions, and discusses their monotonicity and fixed points in representative potentials. The authors also apply the finite-action formalism to dilatonic AdS black holes to obtain thermodynamic quantities and mass, highlighting regularization dependencies and the role of the dilaton in holographic RG. These results advance the understanding of non-conformal boundary theories in AdS/CFT, offering tools to relate bulk dilaton dynamics to boundary RG data and conformal anomaly structure.

Abstract

Gauged supergravity (SG) with single scalar (dilaton) and arbitrary scalar potential is considered. Such dilatonic gravity describes special RG flows in extended SG where scalars lie in one-dimensional submanifold of total space. The surface counterterm and finite action for such gauged SG in three-, four- and five-dimensional asymptotically AdS space are derived. Using finite action and consistent gravitational stress tensor (local surface counterterm prescription) the regularized expressions for free energy, entropy and mass of d4 dilatonic AdS black hole are found. The same calculation is done within standard reference background subtraction. The dilaton-dependent conformal anomaly from d3 and d5 gauged SGs is calculated using AdS/CFT correspondence. Such anomaly should correspond to two- and four-dimensional dual quantum field theory which is classically (not exactly) conformally invariant, respectively. The candidate c-functions from d3 and d5 SGs are suggested. These c-functions which have fixed points in asymptoticaly AdS region are expressed in terms of dilatonic potential and they are positively defined and monotonic for number of potentials.