Constraints on anomalous dimensions from the positivity of the S-matrix

Abstract

We show that the analyticity and crossing symmetry of the S-matrix, together with the optical theorem, impose restrictions on the renormalisation group evolution of dimension-eight operators in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory. Moreover, in the appropriate basis of operators, the latter manifest as zeros in the anomalous dimension matrix that, to the best of our knowledge, have not been anticipated anywhere else in the literature. Our results can be trivially extended to other effective field theories.