We show that a certain superfield formalism can be used to find an off-shell supersymmetric description for some supersymmetric field theories where conventional superfield formalism does not work. This "new" formalism contains even auxiliary variables in addition to conventional odd super-coordinates. The idea of this construction is similar to the pure spinor formalism developed by N.Berkovits. It is demonstrated that using this formalism it is possible to prove that the certain Chern-Simons-like (Witten's OSFT-like) theory can be considered as an off-shell version for some on-shell supersymmetric field theories. We use the simplest non-trivial model found in [2] to illustrate the power of this pure spinor superfield formalism. Then we redo all the calculations for the case of 10-dimensional Super-Yang-Mills theory. The construction of off-shell description for this theory is more subtle in comparison with the model of [2] and requires additional Z_2 projection. We discover experimentally (through a direct explicit calculation) a non-trivial Z_2 duality at the level of Feynman diagrams. The nature of this duality requires a better investigation.
We discuss the higher superspin superfield formalism of Kuzenko et al from the basis of a unified treatment of an unconstrained spinorial superfield prepotential, its action and a restricted set of gauge transformations. We recover previous results as distinct limits of this unified treatment and give the first derivations of the complete set of Bianchi identities associated with these equations.
Although the chiral dotted spinor superfield should describe a Massive Superspin One Half multiplet, it has not been obvious how to derive this from an action. In this paper this is done by including a chiral undotted spinor superfield, finding the BRST transformations that govern both of these, and then finding the action as an invariant of the transformations. It turns out that both kinds of spinor superfields are needed. Moreover, the BRST transformations for the two kinds of chiral spinor superfields are generated from each other by a special involution that exchanges Grassmann odd (even) …
In this note, we study, formalize, and generalize the pure spinor superfield formalism from a rather nontraditional perspective. To set the stage, we review the notion of a multiplet for a general super Lie algebra, working in the context of the BV and BRST formalisms. Building on this, we explain how the pure spinor superfield formalism can be viewed as constructing a supermultiplet out of the input datum of an equivariant graded module over the ring of functions on the nilpotence variety. We use the homotopy transfer theorem and other computational techniques from homological algebra to rela…
Four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory action is written in terms of the spinor superfields in transverse gauge. This action is seemingly first order in space-time derivatives. Thus, it suggests that the generalized fields approach of obtaining Batalin-Vilkovisky quantization can be applicable. In fact, generalized fields which collect spinor superfields possessing different ghost numbers are introduced to obtain the minimal solution of its Batalin-Vilkovisky master equation in a compact form.
Universidade Federal do Amapá（阿马帕联邦大学）；Universidade Federal da Paraíba（帕拉伊巴联邦大学）；Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC‐Universitat de València（瓦伦西亚大学-西班牙国家研究委员会粒子物理研究所）；Universidade Federal do Ceará（塞阿拉联邦大学）
We present a method for introducing and analysing higher-derivative deformations of maximally supersymmetric field theories. Such terms are built in the pure spinor superfield framework, using a set of operators representing physical fields. The action for abelian Born-Infeld theory becomes polynomial in this language, and contains only a four-point interaction in addition to the free action. Simplifications also occur in the non-abelian case.
Chiral superfields with multiple dotted Lorentz spinor indices (`dotspinors') are important in the analysis of supersymmetry breaking through the mechanisms of Cybersusy. This paper describes the actions for massive dotspinors coupled to supersymmetric gauge theory and to chiral matter. It analyzes the free equations of motion and mass spectra for the case of unbroken supersymmetry. The general form of the Cybersusy algebra for dotsupers with multiple indices is also discussed briefly.
We study the duality of the supersymmetric self-dual and Maxwell-Chern-Simons theories coupled to a fermionic matter superfield, using a master action. This approach evades the difficulties inherent to the quartic couplings that appear when matter is represented by a scalar superfield. The price is that the spinorial matter superfield represents a unusual supersymmetric multiplet, whose main physical properties we also discuss.
We study twists of supergravity theories and supersymmetric field theories, using a version of the pure spinor superfield formalism. Our results show that, just as the component fields of supersymmetric multiplets are the vector bundles associated to the equivariant Koszul homology of the variety of square-zero elements in the supersymmetry algebra, the component fields of the holomorphic twists of the corresponding multiplets are the holomorphic vector bundles associated to the equivariant Koszul homology of square-zero elements in the twisted supersymmetry algebra. The BRST or BV differentia…
This is the first installment of a series of three papers in which we describe a method to determine higher-point correlation functions in one-loop open-superstring amplitudes from first principles. In this first part, we exploit the synergy between the cohomological features of pure-spinor superspace and the pure-spinor zero-mode integration rules of the one-loop amplitude prescription. This leads to the study of a rich variety of multiparticle superfields which are local, have covariant BRST variations, and are compatible with the particularities of the pure-spinor amplitude prescription. Se…
Maximally supersymmetric theories do not allow off-shell superspace formulations with traditional superfields containing a finite set of auxiliary fields. It has become clear that off-shell supersymmetric action formulations of such models can be achieved by the introduction of pure spinors. In this talk, an overview of this formalism is given, with emphasis on D=10 super-Yang-Mills theory and D=11 supergravity. This a somewhat expanded version of a talk presented at the workshop "Breaking of supersymmetry and ultraviolet divergences in extended supergravity" (BUDS), Laboratori Nazionali di Fr…
I review and discuss the construction of supersymmetry multiplets and manifestly supersymmetric Batalin-Vilkovisky actions using pure spinors, with emphasis on models with maximal supersymmetry. The special cases of D=3, N=8 (Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson) and N=6 (Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena) conformal models are treated in detail. Most of the material is covered by the papers arXiv:0808.3242 and arXiv:0809.0318. This is the written version of a talk given at 4th Baltic-Nordic workshop "Algebra, Geometry and Mathematical Physics", Tartu, Estonia, October 9-11, 2008, to appear in the Procee…
A modification of the harmonic superfield formalism in $D=4, N=2$ supergravity using a subsidiary condition of covariance under the background supersymmetry with a central charge ($B$-covariance) is considered. Conservation of analyticity together with the $B$-covariance leads to the appearance of linear gravitational superfields. Analytic prepotentials arise in a decomposition of the background linear superfields in terms of spinor coordinates and transform in a nonstandard way under the background supersymmetry. The linear gravitational superfields can be written via spinor derivatives of no…
This is an overview of the method of pure spinor superfields, written for "Handbook of Quantum Gravity", eds. C. Bambi, L. Modesto and I. Shapiro. The main focus is on the use of the formalism in maximal supergravity on a flat background. The basics of pure spinor superfields, and their relation to standard superspace, is reviewed. The pure spinor superstring model of Berkovits is briefly discussed. Consequences for divergence properties of loop diagrams in maximal supergravity are restated. Some final remarks are made concerning desirable development of the theoretical framework.
A Batalin-Vilkovisky action for D=6, N=1 super-Yang--Mills theory, including coupling to hypermultiplets, is given. The formalism involves pure spinor superfields. The geometric properties of the D=6, N=1 pure spinors (which differ from Cartan pure spinors) are examined. Unlike the situation for maximally supersymmetric models, the fields and antifields (including ghosts) of the vector multiplet reside in separate superfields. The formalism provides an off-shell superspace formulation for matter hypermultiplets, which in a traditional treatment are on-shell.
We examine the BRS invariance of the open pure spinor superstring in the presence of background superfields on a Dp-brane. It is shown that the BRS invariance leads not only to boundary conditions on the spacetime spinors, but also to supersymmetric DBI equations of motion for the background superfields on the Dp-brane. These DBI equations are consistent with the supersymmetric DBI equations for a D9-brane.
The manifestly supersymmetric pure spinor formulations of the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson models with N=8 supersymmetry and the Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena models with N=6 supersymmetry are given. The structures of the pure spinors are investigated in both cases, and non-degenerate measures are formed using non-minimal sets of variables, allowing for the formulation of an action principle.
An earlier paper introduced an action for a new kind of irreducible massive superspin one half multiplet, using BRST cohomological techniques including `BRST Recycling'. A mass term was introduced in the earlier paper. A second mass term is discussed in this paper. This new mass invariant is an `Extraordinary Invariant'--it has Zinn sources in it. The natural treatment for this situation is to `Complete the Action' so that the new action yields zero for the BRST Poisson Bracket. In the present case, this Completion meets a BRST Obstruction. Setting the coefficient of this `Completion Obstructi…
D=4, N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory has an off-shell superspace formulation in terms of pure spinor superfields, which is directly inherited from the D=10 theory. That superspace, in particular the choice of pure spinor variables, is less suitable for dealing with fields that are inherently 4-dimensional, such as the superfields based on the scalars, which are gauge-covariant, and traces of powers of scalars, which are gauge-invariant. We give a reformulation of D=4, N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory in N=4 superspace, using inherently 4-dimensional pure spinors. All local degrees of freedom reside in …
In this talk, we review how the superspace formulation of maximally supersymmetric field theories (including supergravity) naturally leads to introduction of pure spinors and pure spinor superfields, and why the formalism provides off-shell formulations. This approach to pure spinor superfields thus stresses field-theoretic aspects rather than the first-quantised ones normally used e.g. in superstring theory. We discuss how the BRST operator arises and the principles behind constructions of actions, as well as the general Batalin-Vilkovisky framework. D=11 supergravity and its recently constru…
Using non-minimal pure spinor superspace, Cederwall has constructed BRST-invariant actions for $D=10$ super-Born-Infeld and $D=11$ supergravity which are quartic in the superfields. But since the superfields have explicit dependence on the non-minimal pure spinor variables, it is non-trivial to show these actions correctly describe super-Born-Infeld and supergravity. In this paper, we expand solutions to the equations of motion from Cederwall's actions to leading order around the linearized solutions and show that they correctly describe the interactions of $D=10$ super-Born-Infeld and $D=11$ …
We reformulate the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson model using an N=8 superspace, thus making the full supersymmetry manifest. The formulation is based on appropriate "pure spinor wave functions" for the Chern-Simons and matter multiplets. The Lagrangian has an extremely simple structure, essentially containing a Chern-Simons-like term for the gauge field wave function and a minimally coupled matter wave function. No higher order interactions than cubic are present. The consistency of the setup relies on an interplay between the algebraic structures of the 3-algebra and of the pure spinors.
We explicitly calculate the one-loop effective potential for the supersymmetric topologically massive gauge theory in four dimensions, where the chiral scalar superfield is directly coupled to the field strength for the gauge spinor superfield.
In this paper a multiparticle generalization of linearized ten-dimensional super Yang--Mills superfields is proposed. Their equations of motions are shown to take the same form as in the single-particle case, supplemented by contact terms. A recursive construction of these superfields is inspired by the iterated OPEs among massless vertex operators in the pure spinor formalism. An enlarged set of BRST-covariant pure spinor blocks is then defined in a streamlined fashion and combined to multiparticle vertex operators. The latter can be used to universally describe tree-level subdiagrams in the …
Tree amplitudes of 10D supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM) and 11D supergravity (SUGRA) are collected in multi-particle counterparts of analytic on-shell superfields. These have essentially the same form as their chiral 4D counterparts describing ${\cal N}=4$ SYM and ${\cal N}=8$ SUGRA, but with components dependent on a different set of bosonic variables. These are the D=10 and D=11 spinor helicity variables, the set of which includes the spinor frame variable (Lorentz harmonics) and a scalar density, and generalized homogeneous coordinates of the coset $\frac{SO(D-2)}{SO(D-4)\otimes U(1)}…
We provide the covariant superspace equations that are sufficient to determine the complete $θ$ expansion of the vertex operator of the open string massive states with $(mass)^2=1/α'$ in pure spinor formalism of superstring theory. These equations get rid of the redundant degrees of freedom in superfields and are consistent with the BRST conditions derived in [1]. Further, we give the explicit $θ$ expansion of the superfields appearing in the unintegrated vertex to $O(θ^3)$. Finally, we compute the contribution to a 3-point tree amplitude with the resulting vertex operator upto $O(θ^3)$ and fi…
We describe a pure spinor BRST cohomology framework to compactly represent ten-dimensional one-loop amplitudes involving any number of massless open- and closed-string states. The method of previous work to construct scalar and vectorial BRST invariants in pure spinor superspace signals the appearance of the hexagon gauge anomaly when applied to tensors. We study the systematics of the underlying BRST anomaly by defining the notion of pseudo-cohomology. This leads to a rich network of pseudo-invariant superfields of arbitrary tensor rank whose behavior under traces and contractions with extern…
The pure spinor formalism for the superstring can be formulated as a twisted N=2 worldsheet theory with fermionic generators $j_{BRST}$ and composite $b$ ghost. After untwisting the formalism to an N=1 worldsheet theory with fermionic stress tensor $j_{BRST}+b$, the worldsheet variables combine into N=1 worldsheet superfields $X^m$ and $Θ^α$ together with a superfield constraint relating $DX^m$ and $DΘ^α$. The constraint implies that the worldsheet superpartner of $θ^α$ is a bosonic twistor variable, and different solutions of the constraint give rise to the pure spinor or extended RNS formali…
We study the zero mode cohomology of the sum of two pure spinors. The knowledge of this cohomology allows us to better understand the structure of the massless vertex operator of the Type IIB pure spinor superstring.
A FORM program which is used to efficiently expand in components pure spinor superfield expressions of kinematic factors is presented and comments on how it works are made. It is highly customizable using the standard features of FORM and can be used to help obtaining superstring effective actions from the scattering amplitudes computed with the pure spinor formalism.
The $b$ ghost, or $b$ operator, used for fixing Siegel gauge in the pure spinor superfield formalism, is a composite operator of negative ghost number, satisfying $\{q,b\}=\square$, where $q$ is the pure spinor differential (BRST operator). It is traditionally constructed using non-minimal variables. However, since all cohomology has minimal representatives, it seems likely that there should be versions of physically meaningful operators, also with negative ghost number, using only minimal variables. The purpose of this letter is to demonstrate that this statement holds by providing a concrete…
It is well known in NSR string theory, that vertex operators can be constructed in various ``pictures''. Recently this was discussed in the context of pure spinor formalism. NSR picture changing operators have an elegant super-geometrical interpretation. In this paper we provide a generalization of this super-geometrical construction, which is also applicable to the pure spinor formalism.
We construct the general formulation of N=1 supersymmetric self-dual abelian gauge theory involving auxiliary chiral spinor superfields. Self-duality in this context is just U(N) invariance of the nonlinear interaction of the auxiliary superfields. Focusing on the U(1) case, we present the most general form of the U(1) invariant auxiliary interaction, consider a few instructive examples and show how to generate self-dual N=1 models with higher derivatives in this approach.
We consider the pure spinor sigma model in an arbitrary curved background. The use of Hamiltonian formalism allows for a uniform description of the worldsheet fields where matter and ghosts enter the action on the same footing. This approach naturally leads to the language of generalized geometry. In fact, to handle the pure spinor case, we need an extension of generalized geometry. In this paper, we describe such an extension. We investigate the conditions for existence of nilpotent holomorphic symmetries. In the case of the pure spinor string in curved background, we translate the existing c…
In the Type II superstring the 4-point function for massless NS-NS bosons at one-loop is well known [1][14]. The overall constant factor in this amplitude is very important because it needs to satisfy the unitarity and S-duality conditions [14]. This coefficient has not been computed in the pure spinor formalism due to the difficulty to solve the integrals on the pure spinors space. In this paper we compute it by using the non-minimal pure spinor formalism and we will show that the answer is in perfect agreement with the one given in [14].
In the study of the Type II superstring, it is useful to consider the BRST complex associated to the sum of two pure spinors. The cohomology of this complex is an infinite-dimensional vector space. It is also a finite-dimensional algebra over the algebra of functions of a single pure spinor. In this paper we study the multiplicative structure.
We show that 10D spinor helicity formalism can be understood as spinor moving frame approach to supersymmetric particles extended to the description of amplitudes. This allows us to develop the spinor helicity formalism for 11D supergravity and a new constrained superfield formalism for 10D SYM and 11D SUGRA amplitudes. We show how the constrained on-shell superfields, one-particle counterparts of the superamplitudes, can be obtained by quantization of massless superparticle mechanics. We make some stages towards the calculation of amplitudes of 10D SYM and 11D SUGRA in this framework. In part…
Using the pure spinor formalism, we compute the tree-level correlation functions for three strings, one closed and two open, in N=1 D=10 superspace. Expanding the superfields in components, the respective terms of the effective action for the type I supergravity are obtained. All terms found agree with the effective action known in the literature. This result gives one more consistency test for the pure spinor formalism.
In [arXiv:0808.1677] 3 dimensional field theories are proposed to on-shell represent N=8 SUSY algebra and SO(7) or SO(4)xSO(4) subgroups of full SO(8) automorphism. They are theories of 8 scalar and 8 spinor matrix fields with Yukawa, quartic and sextic self-interactions. This note is devoted to superfield and off-shell formulation of the theory. Scalar superfields are proposed to represent scalar supermultiplets. A renormalizable action with quadratic and quartic self-interactions is proposed to govern their dynamics.
We construct the integrated vertex operator for the first massive states of open superstrings with $(mass)^2=1/α'$ in the pure spinor formalism of the superstring theory. This vertex operator is expressed in terms of the ten dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ superfields describing the massive supermultiplet which appear in the unintegrated vertex operator of the same states.
The D=10 pure spinor constraint can be solved in terms of spinor moving frame variables and 8-component complex null vector which can be related to the kappa-symmetry ghost. Using this and similar solutions for the conjugate pure spinor and other elements of the non-minimal pure spinor formalism we present a (hopefully useful) reformulation of the measure of the pure spinor path integral for superstring in terms of products of Cartan form corresponding to the coset of 10D Lorentz group and to the coset of complex orthogonal group SO(8,C). Our study suggests a possible complete reformulation of…
In this work, a DDF-like construction within the pure spinor formalism is presented. Starting with the light-cone massless vertices, the creation/annihilation algebra is derived in a simple manner, enabling a systematic construction of the physical vertex operators at any mass level in terms of $SO\left(8\right)$ superfields, in both integrated and unintegrated forms.
We construct an N=1 supersymmetric Lagrangian model for the massive superspin-1 superfield. The model is described by a dynamical spinor superfield and an auxiliary chiral scalar superfield. On-shell this model leads to a spin-1/2, spin-3/2 and two spin-1 propagating component fields. The superfield action is given and its structure in the fermionic component sector is presented. We prove that the most general theory is characterized by a one parameter family of actions. The massless limit is shown to correspond to the dynamics of both the gravitino and superhelicity-1/2 multiplets.
On-shell supergravity vertex operators in an $AdS_5\times S^5$ background are described in the pure spinor formalism by the zero mode cohomology of a BRST operator. After expanding the pure spinor BRST operator in terms of the $AdS_5$ radius variable, this cohomology is computed using N=4 harmonic superspace variables and explicit superfield expressions are obtained for the behavior of supergravity vertex operators near the boundary of $AdS_5$.
Using a new proposal for the "picture lowering" operators, we compute the tree level scattering amplitude in the minimal pure spinor formalism by performing the integration over the pure spinor space as a multidimensional Cauchy-type integral. The amplitude will be written in terms of the projective pure spinor variables, which turns out to be useful to relate rigorously the minimal and non-minimal versions of the pure spinor formalism. The natural language for relating these formalisms is the Cech-Dolbeault isomorphism. Moreover, the Dolbeault cocycle corresponding to the tree-level scatterin…
A family of covariant non-linear projections from the space of SO(10) Weyl spinors onto the space of pure SO(10) Weyl spinors is presented. The Jacobian matrices of these projections are related to a linear projector which was previously discussed in pure spinor string literature and which maps the antighost to its gauge invariant part. Only one representative of the family leads to a Hermitian Jacobian matrix and can itself be derived from a scalar potential. Comments on the SO(1,9) case are given as well as on the non-covariant version of the projection map. The insight is applied to the gho…
Within the superfield approach, we discuss the three-dimensional supersymmetric (SUSY) pseudo-QED. We prove that it is all-loop renormalizable. We demonstrate that the SUSY pseudo-QED action can be generated as a quantum correction from the coupling of a spinor gauge superfield to a set of $N$ massless complex scalar superfields. Afterwards, we calculate the two-point function of the scalar superfields in the pseudo-QED which displays a divergence vanishing in a certain gauge.
We construct a new class of $(p,q)$-extended Poincaré supergravity theories in 2+1 dimensions as Chern-Simons theories of supersymmetry algebras with both central and automorphism charges. The new theories have the advantage that they are limits of corresponding $(p,q)$ adS supergravity theories and, for not too large a value of $N=p+q$, that they have a natural formulation in terms of off-shell superfields, in which context the distinction between theories having the same value of $N$ but different $(p,q)$ arises because of inequivalent conformal compensator superfields. We also show that, un…
We use the non-minimal pure spinor formalism to compute in a super-Poincare covariant manner the four-point massless one and two-loop open superstring amplitudes, and the gauge anomaly of the six-point one-loop amplitude. All of these amplitudes are expressed as integrals of ten-dimensional superfields in a "pure spinor superspace" which involves five $θ$ coordinates covariantly contracted with three pure spinors. The bosonic contribution to these amplitudes agrees with the standard results, and we demonstrate identities which show how the $t_8$ and $ε_{10}$ tensors naturally emerge from integ…
Let $(V,g)$ be a $2n$-dimensional hyperbolic space and $C(V,g)$ its Clifford algebra. $C(V,g)$ has a $\mathbb Z$-grading, $C^k $, and an algebra isomorphism $C(V,g)\cong End(S)$, $S$ the space of spinors. É. Cartan defined operators $L_k: End(S) \to C^k$ which are involved in the definition of pure spinors. We shall give a more refined study of the operator $L_2$, in fact, obtain explicit formulae for it in terms of spinor inner products and combinatorics, as well as the matrix of it in a basis of pure spinors. Using this information we give a construction of the exceptional Lie algebras $\mat…
In this note, we propose a closed formula for the partition function $Z(t,q)$ of the $βγ$ system on the cone of pure spinors. We give the answer in terms of theta functions, $q$-Pochhammer symbols and Eisenstein series.
