The decomposition of global conformal invariants VI: The proof of the proposition on local Riemannian invariants

Abstract

This is the last in a series of papers where we prove a conjecture of Deser and Schwimmer regarding the algebraic structure of ``global conformal invariants''; these are defined to be conformally invariant integrals of geometric scalars. The conjecture asserts that the integrand of any such integral can be expressed as a linear combination of a local conformal invariant, a divergence and of the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet integrand. The present paper, jointly with [6,7] gives a proof of an algebraic Proposition regarding local Riemannian invariants, which lies at the heart of our resolution of the Deser-Schwimmer conjecture. This algebraic Propositon may be of independent interest, applicable to related problems.