Index theorems and supersymmetry in the soliton sector: (II). Magnetic monopoles in 3+1 dimensions

For supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with Bogomolny-Prasad-Sommerfield monopoles, we use an open-space trace theorem on $\text{R}{}^3$ to calculate the O(?) correction to the monopole mass. For the N = 2 theory, the unrenormalized mass correction is non-vanishing (and divergent). To the same order, we calculate the quantum corrections to the central charges, and demonstrate explicitly that the Bogomolny bound is saturated. We also show that the mass correction for the N = 4 theory vanishes to O(?). Finally we discuss the renormalization of the mass correction for the N = 2 theory. This requires the parameters of the theory to be renormalized in the monopole background-field gauge, although there is no simple way known to do this. We exhibit calculations in standard gauges to show explicitly that they give gauge-dependent answers. Physical arguments based on the Dirac quantization condition suggest that the renormalized mass correction vanishes.     

N = 1 superspace formulation of N = 2 and N = 4 super-Yang-Mills models with central charge

The component models of N = 2 and N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories of Sohnius, Stelle and West are reformulated in terms of N = 1 superfields. The non-supersymmetric constraints are supersymmetrized generalizing the linear multiplet in the presence of the non-abelian gauge superfield and (in the N = 4 case) a doublet of chiral superfields. The extended supersymmetry transformations preserving constraints are explicitly given in terms of N = 1 superfields. We are able to introduce the constraints back into the lagrangian using superfield Lagrange multipliers. The on-shell equivalence of this formulation with the formulation of Fayet with one (for N = 2) and three (for N = 4) chiral superfields is shown. The abelian N = 2 model is worked out to show the connection between full superspace treatment and the N = 1 superfield formulation.     

Aspects of effective action for super Chern-Simons-Matter models

We develop the superfield background field method and study the effective action in the N = 2, d3 supersymmetric Chern-Simons-matter systems. The one-loop low-energy effective action for non-Abelian supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory is computed to order F ⁴ by use of N = 2 superfield heat kernel techniques.     

Superfield approach to the construction of effective action in quantum field theory with extended supersymmetry

We review the current state of research on the construction of effective actions in supersymmetric quantum field theory. Special attention is paid to gauge models with extended supersymmetry in the superfield approach. The advantages of formulation of such models in harmonic superspace for the calculation of effective action are emphasized. Manifestly supersymmetric and manifestly gauge-invariant methods for constructing the low-energy effective actions and deriving the corrections to them are considered and the possibilities to obtain the exact solutions are discussed. The calculations of one-loop effective actions in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory with hypermultiplets and in N = 4 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory are analyzed in detail. The relationship between the effective action in supersymmetric quantum field theory and the low-energy limit in superstring theory is discussed.     

Superprojectors

We present a simple algorithm for constructing the N-extended superfield projection operators for irreducible representations of supersymmetry, and explicitly perform all simplifications due to spinor derivative algebra. The method is based on covariant expansion of a general superfield in terms of chiral superfields, and requires no knowledge of Casimir operators. We list these superprojectors for various N = 1, 2, and 4 superfields, and apply our results to quantized the linearized N = 2 vector multiplet in a supersymmetric gauge.     

Quartic mass matrix and renormalization constants in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories

We derive the general formula for the supertrace of the quartic mass matrix in a general supersymmetric gauge theory, with arbitrary representations for the chiral multiplets. This formula clarifies the non-renormalization theorems in presence of gauge interactions and gives “extended renormalization theorems” for N = 2 and N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. In particular we find the known result that g_ren = g_bare for the N = 4 theory and the new result m_ren = m_bare for the N = 2 gauge interactions of massive hypermultiplets. We give arguments to the extent that the latter non-renormalization theorem persists to all orders in perturbation theory.     

Automorphic functions on super Riemann surfaces and fermionic string

Using the theory of super Riemann surfaces, the light-cone gauge formulation of the fermionic string by Mandelstam is extended to the one-loop level. The one-loop N-massless vector particle amplitude is explicitly calculated. The higher-loop extension is also discussed. We also demonstrate the equivalence between the light-cone picture and the Polyakov picture at the one-loop level.     

Localization of Gauge Theory on a Four-Sphere and Supersymmetric Wilson Loops

We prove conjecture due to Erickson-Semenoff-Zarembo and Drukker-Gross which relates supersymmetric circular Wilson loop operators in the N=4{\mathcal N=4} supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with a Gaussian matrix model. We also compute the partition function and give a new matrix model formula for the expectation value of a supersymmetric circular Wilson loop operator for the pure N=2{\mathcal N=2} and the N=2^*{\mathcal N=2^*} supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a four-sphere. A four-dimensional N=2{\mathcal N=2} superconformal gauge theory is treated similarly.     

N=2 boundary supersymmetry in integrable models and perturbed boundary conformal field theory

Boundary integrable models with N=2 supersymmetry are considered. For the simplest boundary N=2 superconformal minimal model with a Chebyshev bulk perturbation we show explicitly how fermionic boundary degrees of freedom arise naturally in the boundary perturbation in order to maintain integrability and N=2 supersymmetry. A new boundary reflection matrix is obtained for this model and N=2 boundary superalgebra is studied. A factorized scattering theory is proposed for a N=2 supersymmetric extension of the boundary sine-Gordon model with either (i) fermionic or (ii) bosonic and fermionic boundary degrees of freedom. Exact results are obtained for some quantum impurity problems: the boundary scaling Lee–Yang model, a massive deformation of the anisotropic Kondo model at the filling values g=2/(2n+3) and the boundary Ashkin–Teller model.     

Ultraviolet divergences in non-renormalizable supersymmetric theories

We present a pedagogical review of our current understanding of the ultraviolet structure of N = (1,1) 6D supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory and of N = 8 4D supergravity. These theories are not renormalizable, they involve power ultraviolet divergences and, in all probability, an infinite set of higherdimensional counterterms that contribute to on-mass-shell scattering amplitudes. A specific feature of supersymmetric theories (especially, of extended supersymmetric theories) is that these counterterms may not be invariant off shell under the full set of supersymmetry transformations. The lowest-dimensional nontrivial counterterm is supersymmetric on shell. Still higher counterterms may lose even the on-shell invariance. On the other hand, the full effective Lagrangian, generating the amplitudes and representing an infinite sum of counterterms, still enjoys the complete symmetry of original theory. We also discuss simple supersymmetric quantum-mechanical models that exhibit the same behaviour.     

N = 4 Yang-Mills theory on the light cone

The 10-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory is constructed in the light-cone gauge. When the theory is dimensionally reduced to four dimensions it is shown that the corresponding N = 4 theory is conveniently described in terms of a scalar superfield. This formalism avoids the problem of auxiliary fields but is Lorentz invariant only on the mass shell. Similar formalisms in terms of scalar superfields are also sketched for the other supersymmetric Yang-Mills as well as for N = 8 supergravity.     

Algebraic structure of topological superconformal field theory on Riemann surfaces

The algebraic structure of a topological superconformal field theory on a compact Riemann surface is investigated. The Krichever-Novikov [K-N] global operator formalism is used to obtain anN=4 super K-N algebra on a Riemann surface. Subsequently thisN=4 algebra is shown to posses anN=3 K-N subalgebra. TheN=3 subalgebra is then twisted to derive a topological version of the Krichever-Novikov algebra with a residualN=2 superconformal structure. The BRST charge of the associated topological field theory on the Riemann surface is shown to be genus dependent in this formalism and the global generalization of the BRST derivative conditions are obtained. The complete BRST structure of the theory is explicitly elucidated.     

The β-function in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory

We show by means of the Adler-Bardeen theorem how to calculate the two-loop β function from a one-loop calculation of the superconformal anomaly in a supersymmetric gauge theory with arbitrary superpotential. The N = 2 and N = 4 cases are also briefly discussed.     

Euclidean SYM theories by time reduction and special holonomy manifolds

Euclidean supersymmetric theories are obtained from Minkowskian theories by performing a reduction in the time direction. This procedure elucidates certain mysterious features of Zumino's N = 2 model in four dimensions, provides manifestly hermitian Euclidean counterparts of all non-mimimal SYM theories, and is also applicable to supergravity theories. We reanalyse the twists of the 4d N = 2 and N = 4 models from this point of view. Other applications include SYM theories on special holonomy manifolds. In particular, we construct a twisted SYM theory on Kähler 3-folds and clarify the structure of SYM theory on hyper-Kähler 4-folds.     

Polynomial invariants for SU(2) monopoles

We present an explicit expression for the topological invariants associated to SU(2) monopoles in the fundamental representation on spin four-manifolds. The computation of these invariants is based on the analysis of their corresponding topological quantum field theory, and it turns out that they can be expressed in terms of Seiberg-Witten invariants. In this analysis we use recent exact results on the moduli space of vacua of the untwisted N = 1 and N = 2 supersymmetric counterparts of the topological quantum field theory under consideration, as well as on electric-magnetic duality for N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories.     

F-theory Yukawa couplings and supersymmetric quantum mechanics

The localized fermions on the intersection curve Σ of D7-branes, are connected to a N=2 supersymmetric quantum mechanics algebra. Due to this algebra the fields obey a global U(1) symmetry. This symmetry restricts the proton decay operators and the neutrino mass terms. Particularly, we find that several proton decay operators are forbidden and the Majorana mass term is the only one allowed in the theory. A special SUSY QM algebra is studied at the end of the paper. In addition we study the impact of a non-trivial holomorphic metric perturbation on the localized solutions along each matter curve. Moreover, we study the connection of the localized solutions to an N=2 supersymmetric quantum mechanics algebra when background fluxes are turned on.     

Flat coordinates,topological Landau-Ginzburg models and the Seiberg-Witten period integrals

We study the Picard-Fuchs differential equations for the Seiberg-Witten period integrals in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. For A-D-E gauge groups we derive the Picard-Fuchs equations by using the flat coordinates in the A-D-E singularity theory. We then find that these are equivalent to the Gauss-Manin system for two-dimensional A-D-E topological Landau-Ginzburg models and the scaling relation for the Seiberg-Witten differential. This suggests an interesting relationship between four-dimensional N = 2 gauge theories in the Coulomb branch and two-dimensional topological field theories.