On Conformal Deformations II

Abstract

The conformal index counts the number of exactly marginal deformations. In 4d the index is given by the number of chiral primary operators of dimension 3 moded out by the complexified global group, where the quotient is defined as usual by imposing a D-term. Here we show its consistency with the Leigh-Strassler method for weakly coupled theories, and we test it against known examples. In several examples this method discovers extra exactly marginal deformations beyond those of Leigh-Strassler. [This is an unpublished paper dated 3.3.03.]