Homogeneous Kähler manifolds: Paving the way towards new supersymmetric sigma models

Homogeneous Kähler manifolds give rise to a broad class of supersymmetric sigma models containing, as a rather special subclass, the more familiar supersymmetric sigma models based on Hermitian symmetric spaces. In this article, all homogeneous Kähler manifolds with semisimple symmetry groupG are constructed, and are classified in terms of Dynkin diagrams. Explicit expressions for the complex structure and the Kähler structure are given in terms of the Lie algebra g ofG. It is shown that for compactG, one can always find an Einstein-Kähler structure, which is unique up to a constant multiple and for which the Kähler potential takes a simple form.On leave of absence from Fakultät für Physik der Universität Freiburg, FRG