Renormalization and symmetry conditions in supersymmetric QED

For supersymmetric gauge theories a consistent regularization scheme that preserves supersymmetry and gauge invariance is not known. In this article we tackle this problem for supersymmetric QED within the framework of algebraic renormalization. For practical calculations, a non-invariant regularization scheme may be used together with counterterms from all power-counting renormalizable interactions. From the Slavnov–Taylor identity, expressing gauge invariance, supersymmetry and translational invariance, simple symmetry conditions are derived that are important in a twofold respect: they establish exact relations between physical quantities that are valid to all orders, and they provide a powerful tool for the practical determination of the counterterms. We perform concrete one-loop calculations in dimensional regularization, where supersymmetry is spoiled at the regularized level, and show how the counterterms necessary to restore supersymmetry can be read off easily. In addition, a specific example is given how the supersymmetry transformations in one-loop order are modified by non-local terms. Received: 23 July 1999 / Published online: 14 October 1999     

Dirac neutrino masses from generalized supersymmetry breaking

We demonstrate that Dirac neutrino masses in the experimentally preferred range are generated within supersymmetric gauge extensions of the standard model with a generalized supersymmetry breaking sector. If the superpotential neutrino Yukawa terms are forbidden by the gauge symmetry [such as a U(1)'], sub-eV scale effective Dirac mass terms can arise at tree level from hard supersymmetry breaking Yukawa couplings, or at one loop due to nonanalytic soft supersymmetry breaking trilinear scalar couplings. The radiative neutrino magnetic and electric dipole moments vanish at one-loop order.     

The axial gauge and supersymmetry

We examine the supersymmetry Ward identity for supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories in the axial gauge. In the pure N = 1 (no matter) case the Ward identity leads to supersymmetric counterterms to all orders. This result does not survive the introduction of matter fields, however, and we therefore conclude that the gauge is not useful in the context of supersymmetry.     

Renormalization-group analysis of supersymmetric mass hierarchies

A renormalization-group analysis is performed for supersymmetric models of the O'Raifeartaigh type coupled to a Yang-Mills supermultiplet. For an appropriate range of coupling constants, we find that large mass ratios can be naturally generated by one-loop corrections to the effective potential. The results confirm Witten's recent observation that these models provide a potential solution to the gauge hierarchy problem. The general renormalization-group analysis of symmetry breaking developed in this paper is applicable in contexts other than supersymmetry. We also give a simple argument that the canonical form of the supersymmetric Ward identities can be maintained in the presence of quantum effects.     

Temperature and supersymmetry

We study equal-time correlation functions at finite temperature in field theories with global supersymmetry. Global supersymmetry is found to be broken at finite temperature; the ground state is not supersymmetric but no Goldstone fermion appears. The temperature dependence of the mass spectrum in the one-loop approximation and leading order in temperature is investigated in several models. In the models that we consider with spontaneous supersymmetry breaking we find that the Goldstone fermion remains massless at the one-loop level. Ward identities describing the supersymmetry of the underlying theory are checked at the one-loop level. We also discuss the situation in supergravity.     

A note on supersymmetry and magnetic fields

Conclusion In the present article we have considered two supersymmetric non-abelian gauge theories in the presence of an external magnetic field. In has been shown that the effect of the magnetic field breaks suppersymmetry at the one-loop level; however, if supersymmetry is already broken spontaneously at the tree level, then the magnetic field effect does not restore it at the one-loop level. These facts could be used in SUSY GUT models (which are used to describe the early universe), to study phase transition in those models.     

The supersymmetric Adler-Bardeen theorem and regularization by dimensional reduction

We examine the subtraction scheme dependence of the anomaly of the supersymmetric, gauge singlet axial current in pure and coupled supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. Preserving supersymmetry and gauge invariance explicitly by using supersymmetric background field theory and dimensional reduction, we show that only the one-loop value of the axial anomaly is subtraction scheme independent, and that one can always define a subtraction scheme in which the Adler-Bardeen theorem is satisfied to all orders in perturbation theory. In general this subtraction scheme may be non-minimal, but in both the pure and the coupled theories, the Adler-Bardeen theorem is satisfied to two loops in minimal subtraction.     

Dimensional regularization and supersymmetry

We examine in detail the techniques of supersymmetric dimensional regularization. A peculiar complementarity is found to be inherent in the regularization: its manifestly supersymmetric version is contradictory, while the removal of inconsistencies costs a lossof supersymmetry in higher orders. We analyse this phenomenon at the level of Feynman diagrams and discover an explicit example of supersymmetry breakdown in the three-loop approximation. In the light of this result, we reconsider the status of dimensional regularization in globally supersymmetric gauge theories.     

The two-loop renormalization of the gauge coupling and the scalar potential for an arbitrary renormalizable field theory

For any renormalize field theory in four dimensions we obtain the two-loop counterterms for the gauge coupling and the scalar potential, using the background-field method. The calculation was performed in two different subtraction schemes: one is the ordinary dimensional regularization, the other is the so-called dimensional reduction scheme. We show that already at the two-loop level differences occur for the scalar coupling-constants. Only dimensional reduction preserves supersymmetry up to this level.     

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.     

Finite renormalizations of 0Sp(N, 4) supersymmetry

The calculation of the one-loop effective potential of the Wess-Zumino model is carried out using Green functions which propagate fields inn-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. The divergent parts of the amplitudes are independent of the choice of boundary conditions. The finite counterterms can be adjusted in such a way that the renormalized action be supersymmetric invariant. Addressing the question of the survival of the supersymmetry invariance of the vacuum state, we derive the result of the persistence of supersymmetry in the semiclassical approximation.     

Regularizations and superconformal anomalies

By using different regularization methods we demonstrate that supersymmetry invariance is maintained up to one-loop order in supersymmetric gauge theories and calculate the superconformal anomalies.     

Goldstone fermion couplings and supersymmetry breaking in superstring models

We re-examine supersymmetry breaking in the observable sectors of superstring-inspired supergravity models by computing Goldstone fermion couplings at the one-loop level. We find that a single global U (1) phase invariance is sufficient to forbid masses for gauge non-singlet chiral scalar bosons, and that Heisenberg symmetry is not necessary.     

The soliton supermultiplet in 4 + 1 dimensions

We consider the SO(4) = SU(2) ? USp(2) Clifford algebra, obtained by the supersymmetry algebra for the N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in 4+1 dimensions, which, in the phase of unbroken gauge symmetry, has a topological charge as central charge. We find that, even if the Higgs mechanism is absent, the massive soliton supermultiplet contains the same number of states as the massless supermultiplet of elementary particles.     

Covariant background field calculation of ultraviolet counterterms for the nonlinear sigma model in three dimensions

Based on the covariant background field method, we calculate the ultraviolet counterterms up to two-loop order and discuss the renormalizability of the three-dimensional non-linear sigma models with arbitrary Riemannian manifolds as target spaces. We investigate the bosonic model and its supersymmetric extension. We show that at the one-loop level these models are renormalizable and even finite when the manifolds are Ricci-flat. However, at the two-loop order, we find non-renormalizable counterterms in all cases considered, so the renormalizability and finiteness of such models are completely lost in this order.     

Supersymmetry algebras that include topological charges

We show that in supersymmetric theories with solitons, the usual supersymmetry algebra is not valid; the algebra is modified to include the topological quantum numbers as central charges. Using the corrected algebra, we are able to show that in certain four dimensional gauge theories, there are no quantum corrections to the classical mass spectrum. These are theories for which Bogomolny has derived a classical bound; the argument involves showing that Bogomolny's bound is valid quantum mechanically and that it is saturated.     

Spontaneous breakdown and finiteness of supersymmetric theories in two dimensions

Using a single scalar superfield we construct the two dimensional version of the four dimensional Wess-Zumino model and examine its renormalization properties. In the context of this model and in the tree approximation we find that supersymmetry can be spontaneously broken with the appearance of a massless fermion. This solution is then shown to be dynamically unstable at the one-loop level. Finally we use supersymmetry to construct two dimensional theories for which all IPI vertices are finite.     

Quantum gravity in 2 + ε dimensions

We examine quantum gravity in 2 + ε dimensions, where the theory is formally renormalizable. Paying due attention to surface integrals (which prove crucial), we calculate the one-loop counterterms and establish a criterion for asymptotic freedom. We find, incidentally, that the β function vanishes to one-loop order for all models which are supersymmetric in two dimensions.     

Supersymmetry breaking in three dimensions

One-loop corrections to the effective potential in three-dimensional supersymmetric massless scalar electrodynamics are calculated to see whether or not they spontaneously break supersymmetry. It is found that neither the supersymmetry nor the U(1) gauge invariance is broken by one-loop effects.     

A note on two-loop superloop

We explore the duality between supersymmetric Wilson loop on null polygonal contours in maximally supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory and next-to-maximal helicity violating (NMHV) scattering amplitudes. Earlier analyses demonstrated that the use of a dimensional regulator for ultraviolet divergences, induced due to presence of the cusps on the loop, yields anomalies that break both conformal symmetry and supersymmetry. At one-loop order, these are present only in Grassmann components localized in the vicinity of a single cusp and result in a universal function for any number of sites of the polygon that can be subtracted away in a systematic manner leaving a well-defined supersymmetric remainder dual to corresponding components of the superamplitude. The question remains though whether components which were free from the aforementioned supersymmetric anomaly at leading order of perturbation theory remain so once computed at higher orders. Presently we verify this fact by calculating a particular component of the null polygonal super Wilson loop at two loops restricting the contour kinematics to a two-dimensional subspace. This allows one to perform all computations in a concise analytical form and trace the pattern of cancellations between individual Feynman graphs in a transparent fashion. As a consequence of our consideration we obtain a dual conformally invariant result for the remainder function in agreement with one-loop NMHV amplitudes.