Running of the Number of Degrees of Freedom in Quantum Conformal Gravity

Abstract: We study how the number of degrees of freedom in Weyl conformal gravity runs with the energy scale from the UV fixed point. To this end we employ two approaches. First, we utilize the Fradkin--Tseytlin prescription for the number of degrees of freedom and demonstrate that the one-loop results are highly dependent on the selected background. We then employ the counting methodology based on the $a$- and $c$-functions, which are typically used to characterize the trace anomaly of conformal field theory in four dimensions. We compute these in the enhanced one-loop approximation and demonstrate that the degrees of freedom decrease monotonically from six degrees in the UV regime. This behavior is independent of the backgrounds considered. Finally, we show how to relate the Fradkin--Tseytlin prescription to counting based on the $a$- and $c$-functions.