Supersymmetric field theories at finite temperature

We show by explicit calculations to second and third order in perturbation theory, that finite temperature effects do not break the supersymmetry Ward-Takahashi identities for graded thermal Green functions of the Wess-Zumino model. Moreover, it is argued that this result is true to all orders in perturbation theory, and further, true for a wide class of supersymmetric theories. We point out, however, that these identities can be broken in the course of a phase transition that restores an originally broken internal symmetry.     

Non-perturbative aspects in supersymmetric gauge theories

We review our present understanding of those non-perturbative features of supersymmetric gauge theories that are believed to determine the properties of their ground states (vacua). A wide variety of theories is discussed in detail: pure Yang-Mills, theories with massive or massless real matter fields, theories with chiral matter, both for SU(N) and for the case of a general compact gauge group (as for instance E₈). Depending on some general features of the theory under consideration, various (perhaps) unexpected phenomena are shown to occur. Among these the breakdown of the (perturbatively established) non-renormalization theorem, the occurrence of runaway vacua in certain limits, the spontaneous dynamical breaking of supersymmetry itself in some chiral theories. Throughout the report we restrict ourselves to the confining picture instanton method, occasionally complementing it with the information coming from chiral and supersymmetric Ward-Takahashi identities. We compare our results with the ones suggested earlier by effective Lagrangian methods and, only briefly, with those obtained by other groups in the Higgs picture.     

Fluctuations in nonequilibrium systems and broken supersymmetry

The fluctuation-dissipation theorem is not expected to hold for systems that either violate detailed balance or have time-dependent or nonpotential forces. Therefore the relation between response and correlation functions should have contributions due to the nonequilibrium nature. An explicit formula for such a contribution is calculated, which in the present derivation appears as a historydependent term. These relations are the Ward-Takahashi identities of a supersymmetric formulation of the Langevin models, and the new term results from a broken supersymmetry.     

Instantons in supersymmetric theories

Instanton effects are considered for a sample of supersymmetric theories, namely, quantum mechanics, gluodynamics, Higgs model. The problem is how to reconcile the apparent lack of the boson-fermion symmetry in the effective instanton induced interactions with supersymmetry of the corresponding lagrangians. It is shown that in the case of quantum mechanics and the Higgs model there is actually no conflict between supersymmetry and the instanton calculus since the Ward identities, associated with the supersymmetry transformations, are satisfied. In quantum mechanics this is due to spontaneous symmetry breaking, or pole terms in matrix elements of supercharge, while in the case of the supersymmetric Higgs model the effective fermion interaction just reduces to a total derivative. In the case of supersymmetric gluodynamics, however, the standard instanton calculus explicitly violates naive Ward identities.     

Equivalence of stochastic quantization to field theories from supersymmetry

Using the Ward-Takahashi identities from the hidden supersymmetry in Langevin equation we present a very simple proof of the equivalence of stochastic quantization to field theories.     

Dynamical Breaking of Supersymmetry and Its Restoration at High Temperatures

The dynamical breaking of the supersymmetric Higgs model is discussed without adding the Fayet—Iliopoulos term to the Lagrangian. It is shown, in terms of the Nambu—Jona-Lasinio mechanism, that the supersymmetry breaking can be realized dynamically in the supersymmetric Higgs model. The supersymmetry behavior at finite temperatures is also investigated and it is shown that the supersymmetry broken dynamically at zero temperature can be restored at finite temperatures.     

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.     

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.     

Clockwork SUSY: supersymmetric Ward and Slavnov-Taylor identities at workin Green's functions and scattering amplitudes

We study the cancellations among Feynman diagrams that implement the Ward and Slavnov-Taylor identities corresponding to the conserved supersymmetry current in supersymmetric quantum field theories. In particular, we show that the Faddeev-Popov ghosts of gauge and supersymmetries never decouple from the physical fields, even for abelian gauge groups. The supersymmetric Slavnov-Taylor identities provide efficient consistency checks for automatized calculations and can verify the supersymmetry of Feynman rules and the numerical stability of phenomenological predictions simultaneously.Received: 2 June 2003, Revised: 1 July 2003, Published online: 5 September 2003     

Regularization by dimensional reduction of supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric gauge theories

We apply the technique of dimensional reduction to both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric theories. Explicit one- and two-loop calculations show that in the latter case the technique is a viable alternative to conventional dimensional regularization, while in the former it preserves the Slavnov-Taylor identities of both supersymmetry and gauge invariance.     

Regularization and supersymmetry-restoring counterterms in supersymmetric QCD

We calculate symmetry-restoring counterterms in supersymmetric QCD at the one-loop level. First we determine loop corrections to the supersymmetry and gauge transformations and find counterterms in such a way that the symmetry algebra holds at the one-loop level. Then these results are used to derive the symmetry-restoring counterterms to all trilinear interactions. In order to obtain unique results it is crucial to use the Slavnov-Taylor identity, which does not only contain supersymmetric and gauge Ward identities but also describes the symmetry algebra. In dimensional regularization this procedure yields unique non-zero values for the counterterms. In contrast, in dimensional reduction we find that no non-symmetric counterterms are needed, neither for the symmetry transformations nor for the physical interactions. For the considered cases this result constitutes a definite test of the supersymmetry and gauge invariance of the scheme. Received: 1 March 2001 / Published online: 25 April 2001     

Stochastic quantization,supersymmetry and the Nicolai map

We present a formulation of the method of stochastic quantization of Parisi and W that reveals its intimate connection with supersymmetry. The crucial ingredient of this analysis is the Nicolai map. By using supersymmetric Ward identities, we derive relations between two Fokker-Planck-type Hamiltonians which arise naturally in this formalism.     

Superconductivity in Supersymmetric Theories

The study of superconductivity has been undertaken through the breaking of supersymmetric gauge theories which automatically incorporate the condensation of monopoles and dyons leading to confining and superconducting phases. Constructing the effective Lagrangian near a singularity in moduli space for N=2 supersymmetric theory with SU(2) gauge group, it has been shown that when a mass term is added to this Lagrangian, the N=2 Supersymmetry is reduced to N=1 supersymmetry yielding the dyonic condensation which leads to confinement and superconductivity as the consequence of generalized Meissner effect. In the Coulomb phase of N=2 SU(3) Yang–Mills theory the gauge symmetry has been broken down to SU(2)×U(l) and it has been shown that on perturbing it by suitable tree-level superpotential this supersymmetry theory breaks to N=1 SU(2) Yang-Mills theory described by Higgs field in confining phase incorporating superconductivity.     

Supersymmetry and the cohomology of (hyper) Kähler manifolds

The cohomology of a compact Kahler (hyperKähler) manifold admits the action of the Lie algebra so(2,1) (so(4,1)). In this paper we show, following an idea of Witten, how this action follows from supersymmetry, in particular from the symmetries of certain supersymmetric sigma models. In addition, many of the fundamental identities in Hodge-Lefschetz theory are also naturally derived from supersymmetry.     

Supersymmetric SU C (4) × SU L (2) × SU R (2) and spontaneous breakdown of symmetries

A supersymmetric version of the left right symmetric partial unification group SU _C (4) × SU _L (2) × SU _R (2) is presented. The spontaneous breakdown of gauge symmetry in a favourable chain of descent has been studied in detail. The mass spectra have been calculated. The method of O’Raifeartaigh has been used to break supersymmetry. The lifting of degeneracy of mass levels between physical multiplets has been shown to occur due to radiative corrections.     

Chiral symmetry and supersymmetry in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

The connection between chiral symmetry and supersymmetry is investigated in the context of a supersymmetric extension of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. A supersymmetric gap equation is found and it is shown that no solution exists which breaks chiral symmetry. A simple physical argument for this phenomenon is given and possible implications for the dynamics of composite models are discussed.     

Goldstone realization of Lorentz-symmetry and supersymmetry at finite temperature

The Ward-Takahashi identities of Lorentz symmetry are examined at finite temperature. It is shown that the Lorentz symmetry is broken with the Goldstone realization. The analogy with finite-temperature supersymmetry-breaking in an R-invariant model is explained.     

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.     

Anomalous gauge theories as constrained Hamiltonian systems

Anomalous gauge theories considered as constrained systems are investigated. The effects of chiral anomaly on the canonical structure are examined first for nonlinear σ-model and later for fermionic theory. The breakdown of the Gauss law constraints and the anomalous commutators among them are studied in a systematic way. An intrinsic mass term for gauge fields makes it possible to solve the Gauss law relations as second class constraints. Dirac brackets between the time components of gauge fields are shown to involve anomalous terms. Based upon the Ward-Takahashi identities for gauge symmetry, we investigate anomalous fermionic theory within the framework of path integral approach.     

Search for supersymmetry at LHC

One of the main motivations for the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scheduled to start around 2006, is to search for supersymmetric particles. The region of the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric standard model, where supersymmetry can be discovered, is investigated. We show that if supersymmetry exists at the electroweak scale, it would be easy to find signals for it at the LHC. If the LHC does find supersymmetry, this would be one of the greatest achievements in the history of theoretical physics.