Using the pure spinor formalism we prove identities which relate the tree-level, one-loop and two-loop kinematic factors for massless four-point amplitudes. From these identities it follows that the complete supersymmetric one- and two-loop amplitudes are immediately known once the tree-level kinematic factor is evaluated. In particular, the two-loop equivalence with the RNS formalism (up to an overall coefficient) is obtained as a corollary.
We study supersymmetry conditions for the heterotic pure superstring preserving and N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions directly from the curved superspace defined by the Berkovits-Howe constraints.
In the pure spinor formalism for the superstring and supermembrane, supersymmetric invariants are constructed by integrating over five $θ$'s in d=10 and over nine $θ$'s in d=11. This pure spinor superspace is easily explained using the superform (or ''ectoplasm'') method developed by Gates and collaborators, and generalizes the standard chiral superspace in d=4. The ectoplasm method is also useful for constructing d=10 and d=11 supersymmetric invariants in curved supergravity backgrounds.
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.
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 $AdS_5$.
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 double-spinor formalism, proposed by Aisaka and Kazama, provides a basis for the pure-spinor formalism, which allows manifestly super-Poincare covariant quantization of superstrings. We extend it to the case of backgrounds realized by coset superspaces. A general method constructing reparametrization invariant action is given using two concrete examples, the flat space-time and AdS(5)xS(5). We find that it is natural to double not only the spinor coordinates but the whole superspace for describing double-spinor superstrings on such backgrounds. The reparametrization invariant action has lo…
The pure spinor heterotic string in a generic super Yang-Mills and supergravity background is considered. We determine the one-loop BRST anomaly at the cohomological level. We prove that it can be absorbed by consistent corrections of the classical constraints due to Berkovits and Howe, in agreement with the Green-Schwarz cancelation mechanism.
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 $D=11$ …
Building on a previous derivation of the local chiral projector for a two dimensional superspace with eight real supercharges, we provide the complete density projection formula required for locally supersymmetrical theories in this context. The derivation of this result is shown to be very efficient using techniques based on the Ectoplasmic construction of local measures in superspace.
A simple BRST-closed expression for the color-ordered super-Yang-Mills 5-point amplitude at tree-level is proposed in pure spinor superspace and shown to be BRST-equivalent to the field theory limit of the open superstring 5-pt amplitude. It is manifestly cyclic invariant and each one of its five terms can be associated to the five Feynman diagrams which use only cubic vertices. Its form also suggests an empirical method to find superspace expressions in the cohomology of the pure spinor BRST operator for higher-point amplitudes based on their kinematic pole structure. Using this method, Ansae…
We present the massless six-point one-loop amplitudes in the open and closed superstring using BRST cohomology arguments from the pure spinor formalism. The hexagon gauge anomaly is traced back to a class of kinematic factors in pure spinor superspace which were recently introduced as BRST pseudo-invariants. This complements previous work where BRST invariance arguments were used to derive the non-anomalous part of the amplitude. The associated worldsheet functions are non-singular and demonstrated to yield total derivatives on moduli space upon gauge variation. These cohomology considerations…
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 superform construction of supersymmetric invariants, which consists of integrating the top component of a closed superform over spacetime, is reviewed. The cohomological methods necessary for the analysis of closed superforms are discussed and some further theoretical developments presented. The method is applied to higher-order corrections in heterotic string theory up to $\a'^3$. Some partial results on $N=2,d=10$ and $N=1,d=11$ are also given.
Working with anticommuting Weyl(or Mayorana) spinors in the framework of the van der Waerden calculus is standard in supersymmetry. The natural frame for rigorous supersymmetric quantum field theory makes use of operator-valued superdistributions defined on supersymmetric test functions. In turn this makes necessary a van der Waerden calculus in which the Grassmann variables anticommute but the fermionic components are commutative instead of being anticommutative. We work out such a calculus in view of applications to the rigorous conceptual problems of the N=1 supersymmetric quantum field the…
We derive the BRST symmetry, Slavnov-Taylor identities and Nielsen identities for the ABJM theories in ${\cal N}{=}3$ harmonic superspace. Further, the gauge dependence of one-particle irreducible amplitudes in such superconformal Chern-Simons theory is shown to be generated by a canonical flow with respect to the extended Slavnov-Taylor identity, induced by the extended BRST transformations (including the BRST transformations of the gauge parameters).
The structures and the associated gauge algebra of ABJM theory in ${\cal N}=1$ superspace are reviewed. We derive the Ward identities of the theory in the class of Lorentz-type gauges at quantum level to justify the renormalizability of the model. We compute the Nielsen identities for the two-point functions of the theory with the help of enlarged BRST transformation. The identities are derived in ABJM theory to ensure the gauge independence of the physical poles of the Green's functions.
We formulate the WT identity for proper vertices in a simple and compact form $\partial Γ/ {\partial θ} =0 $ in a superspace formulation of gauge theories proposed earlier. We show this WT identity (together with a subsidiary constraint) lead, in transparent way, the superfield superspace multiplet renormalizations formulated earlier (and shown to explain symmetries of Yang-Mills theory renormalization).
Supersymmetric integrands for the two-loop five-point amplitudes in ten-dimensional super Yang--Mills and type II supergravity are proposed. The kinematic numerators are manifestly local and satisfy the duality between color and kinematics described by Bern, Carrasco and Johansson. Our results are expected to reproduce the integrated two-loop amplitudes in dimensions $D<7$. The UV divergence in the critical dimension $D=7$ matches the low-energy limit of the corresponding superstring amplitudes and is written in terms of SYM tree amplitudes.
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 …
It has recently been shown that the ten-dimensional superstring can be quantized using the BRST operator $Q=\ointλ^αd_α$ where $λ^α$ is a pure spinor satisfying $λγ^m λ=0$ and $d_α$ is the fermionic supersymmetric derivative. In this paper, the pure spinor version of superstring theory is formulated in a curved supergravity background and it is shown that nilpotency and holomorphicity of the pure spinor BRST operator imply the on-shell superspace constraints of the supergravity background. This is shown to lowest order in $α'$ for the heterotic and Type II superstrings, thus providing a compac…
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…
The tree-level amplitude of six massless open strings is computed using the pure spinor formalism. The OPE poles among integrated and unintegrated vertices can be efficiently organized according to the cohomology of pure spinor superspace. The identification and use of these BRST structures and their interplay with the system of equations fulfilled by the generalized Euler integrals allow the full supersymmetric six-point amplitude to be written in compact form. Furthermore, the complete set of extended Bern-Carrasco-Johansson relations are derived from the monodromy properties of the disk wor…
We have found generic Killing spinor identities which bosonic equations of motion have to satisfy in supersymmetric theories if the solutions admit Killing spinors. Those identities constrain possible quantum corrections to bosonic solutions with unbroken supersymmetries. As an application we show that purely electric static extreme dilaton black holes may acquire specific quantum corrections, but the purely magnetic ones cannot.
A geometry of superspace corresponding to double field theory is developed, with type II supergravity in D=10 as the main example. The formalism is based on an orthosymplectic extension OSp(d,d|2s) of the continuous T-duality group. Covariance under generalised super-diffeomorphisms is manifest. Ordinary superspace is obtained as a solution of the orthosymplectic section condition. A systematic study of curved superspace Bianchi identities is performed, and a relation to a double pure spinor superfield cohomology is established. A Ramond-Ramond superfield is constructed as an infinite-dimensio…
We compactify the pure spinor formalism on a K3 surface. The pure spinor splits into a six-dimensional pure spinor, a projective superspace harmonic, and 6 non-covariant variables. A homological algebra argument reduces the calculation of the cohomology of the Berkovits differential to a "small" Hilbert space which is the string-theoretic analogue of projective superspace. The description of the physical state conditions is facilitated by lifting to the full harmonic superspace, which is accomplished by the introduction of the missing harmonics as non-minimal variables. Finally, contact with t…
Killing spinor identities relate components of equations of motion to each other for supersymmetric backgrounds. The only input required is the field content and the supersymmetry transformations of the fields, as long as an on-shell supersymmetrization of the action without additional fields exists. If we consider off-shell supersymmetry it is clear that the same relations will occur between components of the equations of motion independently of the specific action considered, in particular the Killing spinor identities can be derived for arbitrary, including higher derivative, supergravities…
We discuss $\mathcal{N}=1$ Klein and Klein-Conformal superspaces in $D=(2,2)$ space-time dimensions, realizing them in terms of their functor of points over the split composition algebra $\mathbb{C}_{s}$. We exploit the observation that certain split form of orthogonal groups can be realized in terms of matrix groups over split composition algebras; this leads to a natural interpretation of the the sections of the spinor bundle in the critical split dimensions $D=4$, $6$ and $10$ as $\mathbb{C}_{s}^{2}$, $\mathbb{H}_{s}^{2}$ and $\mathbb{O}_{s}^{2}$, respectively. Within this approach, we also…
We give a very simple derivation of the forms of $N=2,D=10$ supergravity from supersymmetry and $SL(2,\bbR)$ (for IIB). Using superspace cohomology we show that, if the Bianchi identities for the physical fields are satisfied, the (consistent) Bianchi identities for all of the higher-rank forms must be identically satisfied, and that there are no possible gauge-trivial Bianchi identities ($dF=0$) except for exact eleven-forms. We also show that the degrees of the forms can be extended beyond the spacetime limit, and that the representations they fall into agree with those predicted from Borche…
A discussion of the AdS/CFT correspondence in IIB is given in a superspace context. The main emphasis is on the properties of SCFT correlators on the boundary which are studied using harmonic superspace techniques. These techniques provide the easiest way of implementing the superconformal Ward identities. The Ward identities, together with analyticity, can be used to give a compelling argument in support of the non-renormalisation theorems for two- and three-point functions, and to establish the triviality of extremal and next-to-extremal correlation functions. The OPE in is also briefly disc…
Using the pure spinor formalism for the superstring, the vertex operator for the first massive states of the open superstring is constructed in a manifestly super-Poincaré covariant manner. This vertex operator describes a massive spin-two multiplet in terms of ten-dimensional superfields.
In this paper, we outline a method to compute supersymmetric one-loop integrands in ten-dimensional SYM theory. It relies on the constructive interplay between their cubic-graph organization and BRST invariance of the underlying pure spinor superstring description. The five- and six-point amplitudes are presented in a manifestly local form where the kinematic dependence is furnished by BRST-covariant expressions in pure spinor superspace. At five points, the local kinematic numerators are shown to satisfy the BCJ duality between color and kinematics leading to supergravity amplitudes as a bypr…
We review the spinor moving frame formulations and generalized action principle for super-p-branes, describe in detail the superembedding approach to superstring in general type IIB supergravity background and present the complete superembedding description of type IIB superstring in the AdS(5)xS*5 superspace.
Continuing our exploration of maximally supersymmetric gauge theories (MSYM) deformed by higher dimensional operators, in this paper we consider an off-shell approach based on pure spinor superspace and focus on constructing supersymmetric deformations beyond the first order. In particular, we give a construction of the Batalin-Vilkovisky action of an all-order non-Abelian Born-Infeld deformation of MSYM in the non-minimal pure spinor formalism. We also discuss subtleties in the integration over the pure spinor superspace and the relevance of Berkovits-Nekrasov regularization.
Nilpotency of the pure spinor BRST operator in a curved background implies superspace equations of motion for the background. By computing one-loop corrections to nilpotency for the heterotic sigma model, the Yang-Mills Chern-Simons corrections to the background are derived.
By analyzing eleven-dimensional superspace fourth-rank superfield strength F-Bianchi identities, we show that M-theory corrections to eleven-dimensional supergravity can not be embedded into the mass dimension zero constraints, such as the (\g^{a b})_{\a\b} X_{a b}{}^c or i (\g^{a_1... a_5})_{\a\b} X_{a_1... a_5}{}^c -terms in the supertorsion constraint T_{\a\b}{}^c. The only possible modification of superspace constraint at dimension zero is found to be the scaling of F_{\a\b c d} like F_{\a\b c d} = (1/2) \big(\g_{c d}\big)_{\a\b} e^Φfor some real scalar superfield Φ, which alone is further…
We describe the linearized supergeometry of eleven dimensional supergravity with four off-shell local supersymmetries. We start with a background Minkowski 11D, N=1 superspace, and an additional ingredient of a global, constant, $G_2$-structure which facilitates the definition of a $4|4+7$ background superspace. A bottom-up construction of linear fluctuations of the geometric constituents (such as supervielbein, spin connection, and the super 3-form of 11D supergravity) is given in terms of 4D, N=1 prepotential superfields. This is complemented by a top-down description of the linearized super…
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.
The pure spinor formulation of the ten-dimensional superstring leads to manifestly supersymmetric loop amplitudes, expressed as integrals in pure spinor superspace. This paper explores different methods to evaluate these integrals and then uses them to calculate the kinematic factors of the one-loop and two-loop massless four-point amplitudes involving two and four Ramond states.
We construct the action for the pure spinor superstring in the coset description of AdS_4 x CP^3 superspace, using the variables which solve the pure spinor condition. As a test of the consistency of the approach, we use the background field method to verify the absence of central charge at the second order in the expansion and to show the one-loop finiteness of the effective action.
Using the results recently obtained for computing integrals over (non-minimal) pure spinor superspace, we compute the coefficient of the massless two-loop four-point amplitude from first principles. Contrasting with the mathematical difficulties in the RNS formalism where unknown normalizations of chiral determinant formulae force the two-loop coefficient to be determined only indirectly through factorization, the computation in the pure spinor formalism can be smoothly carried out.
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.
By using symplectic Majorana spinors as Grassmann coordinates in a superspace associated with the supersymmetric extension of the isometry group on the spherical surface S_2, it proves possible to formulate supersymmetric models on S_2 using superspace techniques.
A two-form formulation for the N=2 vector-tensor multiplet is constructed using superfield methods in central charge superspace. The N=2 non-Abelian standard supergauge multiplet in central charge superspace is also discussed, as is with the associated Chern-Simons form. We give the constraints, solve the Bianchi identities and present the action for a theory of the vector-tensor multiplet coupled to the non-Abelian supergauge multiplet via the Chern-Simons form.
Mason and Skinner recently constructed a chiral infinite tension limit of the Ramond-Neveu-Schwarz superstring which was shown to compute the Cachazo-He-Yuan formulae for tree-level d=10 Yang-Mills amplitudes and the NS-NS sector of tree-level d=10 supergravity amplitudes. In this letter, their chiral infinite tension limit is generalized to the pure spinor superstring which computes a d=10 superspace version of the Cachazo-He-Yuan formulae for tree-level d=10 super-Yang-Mills and supergravity amplitudes.
In this thesis are presented two aplications of the sigma model for the superstring in the pure spinor formulation. The first aplication concerns the computation of the one-loop conformal invariance for the type II superstring, resulting in equations of motion written in superspace for the background fields coupled to the superstring. The second application is related to the BRST invariance of the heterotic superstring at the quantum level, which allows to find stringy corrections to the ten-dimensional super Yang-Mills/supergravity constraints.
By using graded (super) Lie algebras, we can construct noncommutative superspace on curved homogeneous manifolds. In this paper, we take a flat limit to obtain flat noncommutative superspace. We particularly consider $d=2$ and $d=4$ superspaces based on the graded Lie algebras $osp(1|2)$, $su(2|1)$ and $psu(2|2)$. Jacobi identities of supersymmetry algebras and associativities of star products are automatically satisfied. Covariant derivatives which commute with supersymmetry generators are obtained and chiral constraints can be imposed. We also discuss that these noncommutative superspaces ca…
Here we construct N=4 SuperYang-Mills 6 point NMHV loop amplitude (amplitudes with three minus helicities) as a full superspace form, using the $SU(4)_{R}$ anti-commuting spinor variables. Amplitudes with different external particle and cyclic helicity ordering are then just a particular expansion of this fermionic variable. We've verified this by explicit expansion obtaining amplitudes with two gluino calculated before. We give results for all gluino $A(Λ^{-}Λ^{-}Λ^{-}Λ^{+}Λ^{+}Λ^{+})$and all scalar $A(ϕϕϕϕϕϕ)$scattering amplitude. A discussion of using MHV vertex approach to obtain these amp…
We show how the Killing Spinor Identities (KSI) can be used to reduce the number of independent equations of motion that need to be checked explicitly to make sure that a supersymmetric configuration is a classical supergravity solution. We also show how the KSI can be used to compute BPS relations between masses and charges.
We write an action, in four dimensional N=1 curved superspace, which contains a pure R^4 term with a coupling constant. Starting from the off-shell solution of the Bianchi identities, we compute the on-shell torsions and curvatures with this term. We show that their complete solution includes, for some of them, an infinite series in the R^4 coupling constant, which can only be computed iteratively. We explicitly compute the superspace torsions and curvatures up to second order in this coupling constant. Finally, we comment on the lifting of this result to higher dimensions.
We compute the massless five-point amplitude of open superstrings using the non-minimal pure spinor formalism and obtain a simple kinematic factor in pure spinor superspace, which can be viewed as the natural extension of the kinematic factor of the massless four-point amplitude. It encodes bosonic and fermionic external states in supersymmetric form and reduces to existing bosonic amplitudes when expanded in components, therefore proving their equivalence. We also show how to compute the kinematic structures involving fermionic states.
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…
The construction of the ghost number zero and one vertex operators for the 11D pure spinor superparticle will be revisited. In this sense, an alternative way of defining the ghost number one vertex operator will be given after introducing a ghost number -2 operator made out of physical operators defined on the 11D non-minimal pure spinor superspace. This procedure will make explicit and transparent the relation between the ghost number three and one vertex operators. In addition, using a non-Lorentz covariant b-ghost, ghost number zero and two vertex operators satisfying standard descent equat…
Using the non-minimal version of the pure spinor formalism, manifestly super-Poincare covariant superstring scattering amplitudes can be computed as in topological string theory without the need of picture-changing operators. The only subtlety comes from regularizing the functional integral over the pure spinor ghosts. In this paper, it is shown how to regularize this functional integral in a BRST-invariant manner, allowing the computation of arbitrary multiloop amplitudes. The regularization method simplifies for scattering amplitudes which contribute to ten-dimensional F-terms, i.e. terms in…
In this paper we extend to the case of IIB superstring sigma models the method proposed in hep-th/10023500 to derive the pure spinor approach for type IIA sigma models. In particular, starting from the (Free) Differential Algebra and superspace parametrization of type IIB supergravity, extended to include the BRST differential and all the ghosts, we derive the BRST transformations of fields and ghosts as well as the standard pure spinor constraints for the ghosts $λ$ related to supersymmetry. Moreover, using the method first proposed by us, we derive the pure spinor action for type IIB superst…
