A new constraint on strongly coupled field theories

We propose a new constraint on the structure of strongly coupled, asymptotically free field theories. The constraint takes the form of an inequality limiting the number of degrees of freedom in the infrared description of a theory relative to the number of underlying, ultraviolet degrees of freedom. We apply the inequality to a variety of theories (both supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric), where it agrees with all known results and leads to interesting new constraints on low energy spectra. We discuss the relation of this constraint to renormalization group c theorems. [S0556-2821(99)02416-9].