Can supersymmetric theories be bosonized?

We investigate the possibility of transforming supersymmetric theories into pure;y fermionic or bosonic forms. The supersymmetric sine-Gordon lagrangian is rewritten in a purely fermionic form, and the Fermi equivalent of the original supersymmetry transformation is derived. This transformation represents an invariance only at the quantum level, when the effects of the chiral anomaly have been taken into account. When supersymmetric theories are written in purely bosonic forms, a non-local bosonic transformation takes place of the supersymmetry transformation. In both cases the supersymmetry algebra, as realized on the fields, is lost.     

Supersymmetry and the Goldstino-like mode in bose-fermi mixtures

Supersymmetry is assumed to be a basic symmetry of the world in many high-energy theories, but none of the superpartners of any known elementary particle have been observed yet. We argue that supersymmetry can also be realized and studied in ultracold atomic systems with a mixture of bosons and fermions, with properly tuned interactions and single particle dispersion. We further show that in such nonrelativistic systems supersymmetry is either spontaneously broken or explicitly broken by a chemical potential difference between the bosons and fermions. In both cases the system supports a sharp fermionic collective mode similar to the Goldstino mode in high-energy physics, due to supersymmetry. We also discuss possible ways to detect this mode experimentally.     

Perturbative gauge invariance: electroweak theory II

A recent construction of the electroweak theory, based on perturbative quantum gauge invariance alone, is extended to the case of more generations of fermions with arbitrary mixing. The conditions implied by second order gauge invariance lead to an isolated solution for the fermionic couplings in agreement with the standard model. Third order gauge invariance determines the Higgs potential. The resulting massive gauge theory is manifestly gauge invariant, after construction.     

Phenomenology and conformal field theory or can string theory predict the weak mixing angle?

We show that the weak mixing angle θ_w is the same for continuously connected classical vacua of the heterotic string which have chiral fermions in their massless spectra. We also show that the world-sheet quantum field theory for any classical vacuum with spacetime supersymmetry possesses an N = 2 superconformal invariance.     

Wess-Zumino model in the causal approach

The Wess–Zumino model is analysed in the framework of the causal approach of Epstein–Glaser. The condition of invariance with respect to supersymmetry transformations is similar to gauge invariance in the Zürich formulation. We prove that this invariance condition can be implemented in all orders of perturbation theory, i.e. the anomalies are absent in all orders. This result is of a purely algebraic nature. We work consistently in the quantum framework based on the Bogoliubov axioms of perturbation theory, so no Grassmann variables are necessary. Received: 30 April 2001 / Revised version: 19 July 2001 / Published online: 31 August 2001     

A supersymmetric gut

We propose a grand unified supersymmetric theory based on SU(5) with spontaneously broken supersymmetry. The theory (really a class of theories) is completely realistic. In particular, supersymmetry partners of ordinary fermions and bosons are heavy. The model requires one fine-tuning in order to render the color triplet partners of the Higgs fields (which mediate proton decay) superheavy. This fine-tuning is stable against radiative corrections. At the tree level, the model contains two scales, the unification scale, of order 10¹⁶ GeV, and the supersymmetry breaking scale, of order 10¹⁰ GeV. The breaking of SU(2) × U(1) invariance arises as a radiative effect. The lightest of the new particles implied by supersymmetry are expected to have masses of order tens of GeV.     

Supersymmetric preon models with gauged colour-flavour symmetry

We have conducted a search for globally supersymmetric preon models with gauged colour-flavour symmetries. Theories with both two- and three-preon composites, and colour-flavour groups from E₆ down to the standard model, are examined under the following conditions: asymptotically-free metacolour, anomaly-free gauged symmetries, and Pauli principle obeyed. It is found that there are no models with three or more supersymmetric families. If supersymmetry is broken, one model with four families emerges. The purely fermionic preon theories can also be considered as the light sector of a chiral supersymmetric theory, with supersymmetry breaking at the preon level.     

Quantum dots for demonstration of additional dimensions of spacetime

By the example of electron mesoscopic systems, we show the impossibility of constraints of the quantum principle of superposition imposed by the superselection rule. This rule was introduced by Wick, Wightman, and Wigner in order to avoid the violation of Lorentz invariance due to the absence of physical invariance under rotations by an angle of 2π in states which are a coherent superposition of states with an even and odd number of fermions. We describe a mesoscopic system (a semiconductor double quantum dot at low temperatures) where such superpositions are realized; this is confirmed by experiments. We suggest a new experiment which explicitly demonstrates the absence of physical invariance under rotations by an angle of 2π. We note that an alternative to the superselection rule is the existence (along with x, y, z, and t) of additional spinor (Grassmann) dimensions of spacetime introduced in quantum field theory for realization of supersymmetry. It is proved that additional dimensions are real; their physical meaning is clarified for nonrelativistic systems of fermions.     

Exact ground state and finite-size scaling in a supersymmetric lattice model

We study a model of strongly correlated fermions in one dimension with extended N = 2 supersymmetry. The model is related to the spin S = 1/2 XXZ Heisenberg chain at anisotropy Delta = -1/2 with a real magnetic field on the boundary. We exploit the combinatorial properties of the ground state to determine its exact wave function on finite lattices with up to 30 sites. We compute several correlation functions of the fermionic and spin fields. We discuss the continuum limit by constructing lattice observables with well defined finite-size scaling behavior. For the fermionic model with periodic boundary conditions we give the emptiness formation probability in closed form.     

Gauge-invariant effective lagrangians for goldstone-like particles of supersymmetric technicolor models

We point out that generally the low-energy spectrum in supersymmetric technicolor models contains quasi-Goldstone fermions and quasi-Goldstone bosons in addition to the usual (pseudo)- Goldstone bosons. Using the language of Kähler geometry, we present a step-by-step procedure for constructing gauge-invariant non-linear lagrangians involving the fermionic and bosonic Goldstone particles in situations in which supersymmetry is preserved. Both the cases of fully gauged and partially gauged global symmetries are considered. We discuss the dynamical version of the super-Higgs mechanism, and we illustrate it with the supersymmetric Susskind-Weinberg technicolor model.     

Spin chains viewed as the fermionic parts of supersymmetric quantum mechanical models

This paper shows that (anisotropic) spin chains of XY type arise by matrix representation of the fermionic terms of hamiltonians of quantum systems whose supersymmetry involves in general no more than a single hermitian supercharge. It provides some background relevant to this type of supersymmetry and makes applications to such chains including those which admit quantum groups as invariance algebras.     

Discrete symmetries and the propagator approach to coupled fermions in Quantum Field Theory. Generalities: The case of a single fermion-antifermion pair

Starting from Wigner’s symmetry representation theorem, we give a general account of discrete symmetries (parity P, charge conjugation C, time-reversal T), focusing on fermions in Quantum Field Theory. We provide the rules of transformation of Weyl spinors, both at the classical level (grassmanian wave functions) and quantum level (operators). Making use of Wightman’s definition of invariance, we outline ambiguities linked to the notion of classical fermionic Lagrangian. We then present the general constraints cast by these transformations and their products on the propagator of the simplest among coupled fermionic system, the one made with one fermion and its antifermion. Last, we put in correspondence the propagation of C eigenstates (Majorana fermions) and the criteria cast on their propagator by C and CP invariance.     

Staggered fermions and rotation-gauge invariance

We study the rotational invariance of the staggered fermions on the lattice by considering them as spin-zero fields in a quenched gauge field background. The non-integer spin fermionic fields are reconstructed. Bilinear operators (i.e. meson fields) in terms of the quark fields on a cube are classified according to the representations of the discrete rotational group.     

Cosmic string configuration in the supersymmetric CSKR theory

We study a cosmic string solution of an (N=1)-supersymmetric version of the Cremmer–Scherk–Kalb–Ramond (CSKR) model coupled to scalars and fermions. The 2-form gauge potential is proposed to couple non-minimally to matter, here described by a chiral scalar superfield. The important outcome is that supersymmetry is kept exact in the core and it may also hold in the exterior region of the string. We contemplate the configurations of the bosonic sector and we check that the solutions saturate the Bogomol'nyi bound. A glimpse on the fermionic zero modes is also given.     

Dynamical Field Inference and Supersymmetry

Knowledge on evolving physical fields is of paramount importance in science, technology, and economics. Dynamical field inference (DFI) addresses the problem of reconstructing a stochastically-driven, dynamically-evolving field from finite data. It relies on information field theory (IFT), the information theory for fields. Here, the relations of DFI, IFT, and the recently developed supersymmetric theory of stochastics (STS) are established in a pedagogical discussion. In IFT, field expectation values can be calculated from the partition function of the full space-time inference problem. The partition function of the inference problem invokes a functional Dirac function to guarantee the dynamics, as well as a field-dependent functional determinant, to establish proper normalization, both impeding the necessary evaluation of the path integral over all field configurations. STS replaces these problematic expressions via the introduction of fermionic ghost and bosonic Lagrange fields, respectively. The action of these fields has a supersymmetry, which means there exists an exchange operation between bosons and fermions that leaves the system invariant. In contrast to this, measurements of the dynamical fields do not adhere to this supersymmetry. The supersymmetry can also be broken spontaneously, in which case the system evolves chaotically. This affects the predictability of the system and thereby makes DFI more challenging. We investigate the interplay of measurement constraints with the non-linear chaotic dynamics of a simplified, illustrative system with the help of Feynman diagrams and show that the Fermionic corrections are essential to obtain the correct posterior statistics over system trajectories.     

Consistent quantization of a two-dimensional non-abelian chiral theory

A two-dimensional SU(N) gauge model coupled to Weyl fermions is studied following recent suggestions for the quantization of potentially anomalous chiral theories. The Weyl fermion determinant is evaluated and the fermionic current is shown to be conserved due to the gauge invariance of the resulting quantum theory. As in the abelian case, the vector meson acquires a mass and the model is consistent provided a regularization parameter is conveniently chosen.     

Fermionic-mode entanglement in non-Markovian environment

We evaluate the non-Markovian effects on the entanglement dynamics of a fermionic system interacting with two dissipative vacuum reservoirs. The exact solution of density matrix is derived by utilizing the Feynman–Vernon influence functional theory in the fermionic coherent state representation and the Grassmann calculus, which are valid for both the fermionic and bosonic baths, and their difference lies in the dependence of the parity of the initial states. The fermionic entanglement dynamics is presented by adding an additional restriction to the density matrix known as the superselection rules. Our analysis shows that the usual decoherence suppression schemes implemented in qubits systems can also be achieved for systems of identical fermions, and the initial state proves its importance in the evolution of fermionic entanglement. Our results provide a potential way to decoherence controlling of identical fermions.     

Composite massless vector field obtained from fundamental fermions

From a purely fermionic dynamics an effective theory of composite bosonic fields may be derived. We concentrate on the point-splitting construction of aU(1)-gauge boson as a spinor bilinear; this proposal has been thoroughly examined before within a noncanonicalU(1)-invariant Lagrangian spinor model. We point out that the induced effective gauge coupling depends on additional regulator masses and verify that the point-splitting regularization will spoil the gauge invariance of one-loop quantum corrections containing background spinor fields. These results contradict previous work on this subject.     

Momentum space topology of fermion zero modes brane

We discuss fermion zero modes within the 3+1 brane, i.e., the domain wall between the two vacua in 4+1 spacetime. We do not assume relativistic invariance in 4+1 spacetime or any special form of the 4+1 action. The only input is that the fermions in bulk are fully gapped and are described by a nontrivial momentum-space topology. Then the 3+1 wall between such vacua contains chiral 3+1 fermions. The bosonic collective modes in the wall form the gauge and gravitational fields. In principle, this universality class of fermionic vacua can contain all the ingredients of the Standard Model and gravity.     

Supersymmetry and functional integration measures

We complete the proof of a recently proposed new characterization of scalar supersymmetric theories and extend this result to “non-scalar” models such as supersymmetric gauge theories. The new characterization does not make use of anticommuting variables since supersymmetry can now be directly understood as a property of certain purely bosonic functional integration measures where all fermionic variables have been “integrated out”.