We classify $N{=}1$ $d=4$ kinematical and aristotelian Lie superalgebras with spatial isotropy, but not necessarily parity nor time-reversal invariance. Employing a quaternionic formalism which makes rotational covariance manifest and simplifies many of the calculations, we find a list of $43$ isomorphism classes of Lie superalgebras, some with parameters, whose (nontrivial) central extensions are also determined. We then classify their corresponding simply-connected homogeneous $(4|4)$-dimensional superspaces, resulting in a list of $27$ homogeneous superspaces, some with parameters, all of which are reductive. We determine the invariants of low rank and explore how these superspaces are related via geometric limits.
We derive massless and massive representations of all SU(2,2/N) superalgebras by using superfields defined in "harmonic superspace". This method allows one to easily construct "short superfields" which are relevant in the analysis of the AdS/CFT correspondence.
We present here a cohomological analysis of the new spacetime superalgebras that arise in the context of superbrane theory. They lead to enlarged superspaces that allow us to write D-brane actions in terms of fields associated with the additional superspace variables. This suggests that there is an extended superspace/worldvolume fields democracy for superbranes.
The relativistic Lorentz-covariant quantum space-times obtained by Snyder can be described by the coset generators of (anti) de-Sitter algebras. Similarly, the Lorentz-covariant quantum phase spaces introduced by Yang, which contain additionally quantum curved fourmomenta and quantum-deformed relativistic Heisenberg algebra, can be defined by suitably chosen coset generators of conformal algebras. We extend such algebraic construction to the respective superalgebras, which provide quantum Lorentz-covariant superspaces (SUSY Snyder model) and indicate also how to obtain the quantum relativistic…
We study Chevalley-Eilenberg cohomology of physically relevant Lie superalgebras related to supersymmetric theories, providing explicit expressions for their cocycles in terms of their Maurer-Cartan forms. We then include integral forms in the picture by defining a notion of integral forms related to a Lie superalgebra. We develop a suitable generalization of Chevalley-Eilenberg cohomology extended to integral forms and we prove that it is isomorphic to the ordinary Chevalley-Eilenberg cohomology of the Lie superalgebra. Next we study equivariant Chevalley-Eilenberg cohomology for coset supers…
A Vogan superdiagram is a set of involution and painting on a Dynkin diagram. It selects a real form, or equivalently an involution, from a complex simple Lie superalgebra. We introduce the double Vogan superdiagram, which is two sets of Vogan superdiagrams superimposed on an affine Dynkin diagram. They correspond to pairs of commuting involutions on complex simple Lie superalgebras, and therefore provide an independent classification of the simple locally symmetric or symmetric superpairs.
A study of the superconformal covariantization of superdifferential operators defined on $(1|1)$ superspace is presented. It is shown that a superdifferential operator with a particular type of constraint can be covariantized only when it is of odd order. In such a case, the action of superconformal transformation on the superdifferential operator is nothing but a hamiltonian flow defined by the corresponding supersymmetric second Gelfand-Dickey bracket. The covariant form of a superdifferential operator of odd order is given.
A Schroedinger type equation on the superspace R^{D|2n} is studied, which involves a potential inversely proportional to the negative of the osp(D|2n) invariant "distance" away from the origin. An osp(2,D+1|2n) dynamical supersymmetry for the system is explicitly constructed, and the bound states of the system are shown to form an irreducible highest weight module for this superalgebra. A thorough understanding of the structure of the irreducible module is obtained. This in particular enables the determination of the energy eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenspaces as well as their respect…
We present a large class of supersymmetric classical r-matrices, describing the supertwist deformations of Poincare and Euclidean superalgebras. We consider in detail new family of four supertwists of N=1 Poincare superalgebra and provide as well their Euclidean counterpart. The proposed supertwists are better adjusted to the description of deformed D=4 Euclidean supersymmetries with independent left-chiral and right-chiral supercharges. They lead to new quantum superspaces, obtained by the superextension of twist deformations of spacetime providing Lie-algebraic noncommutativity of space-time…
We study and classify kinematical algebras which appear in the framework of Lie superalgebras or Lie algebras of order three. All these algebras are related through generalised Inonü-Wigner contractions from either the orthosymplectic superalgebra or the de Sitter Lie algebra of order three.
We construct N=2 affine current algebras for the superalgebras sl(n|n-1)^{(1)} in terms of N=2 supercurrents subjected to nonlinear constraints and discuss the general procedure of the hamiltonian reduction in N=2 superspace at the classical level. We consider in detail the simplest case of N=2 sl(2|1)^{(1)} and show how N=2 superconformal algebra in N=2 superspace follows via the hamiltonian reduction. Applying the hamiltonian reduction to the case of N=2 sl(3|2)^{(1)}, we find two new extended N=2 superconformal algebras in a manifestly supersymmetric N=2 superfield form. Decoupling of four …
Recently the quantum hamiltonian reduction was done in the case of general $s\ell(2)$ embeddings into Lie algebras and superalgebras. In this paper we extend the results to the quantum hamiltonian reduction of $N=1$ affine Lie superalgebras in the superspace formalism. We show that if we choose a gauge for the supersymmetry, and consider only certain equivalence classes of fields, then our quantum hamiltonian reduction reduces to quantum hamiltonian reduction of non-supersymmetric Lie superalgebras. We construct explicitly the super energy-momentum tensor, as well as all generators of spin 1 (…
Superalgebras including generators having spins up to two and realisable as tangent vector fields on Lorentz covariant generalised superspaces are considered. The latter have a representation content reminiscent of configuration spaces of (super)gravity theories. The most general canonical supercommutation relations for the corresponding phase space coordinates allowed by Lorentz covariance are discussed. By including generators transforming according to every Lorentz representation having spin up to two, we obtain, from the super Jacobi identities, the complete set of quadratic equations for …
The Fock space of bosons and fermions and its underlying superalgebra are represented by algebras of functions on a superspace. We define Gaussian integration on infinite dimensional superspaces, and construct superanalogs of the classical function spaces with a reproducing kernel -- including the Bargmann-Fock representation -- and of the Wiener-Segal representation. The latter representation requires the investigation of Wick ordering on Z2-graded algebras. As application we derive a Mehler formula for the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck semigroup on the Fock space.
Higher-derivative terms in the string and M-theory effective actions are strongly constrained by supersymmetry. Using a mixture of techniques, involving both string amplitude calculations and an analysis of supersymmetry requirements, we determine the supersymmetric completion of the R^4 action in eleven dimensions to second order in the fermions, in a form compact enough for explicit further calculations. Using these results, we obtain the modifications to the field transformation rules and determine the resulting field-dependent modifications to the coefficients in the supersymmetry algebra.…
The algebra of the generators of translations in superspace is unstable, in the sense that infinitesimal perturbations of its structure constants lead to non-isomorphic algebras. We show how superspace extensions remedy this situation (after arguing that remedy is indeed needed) and review the benefits reaped in the description of branes of all kinds in the presence of the extra dimensions.
Massive arbitrary spin supermultiplets and massless (scalar and spin one-half) supermultiplets of the N=2 Poincare superalgebra in three-dimensional flat space are considered. Both the integer spin and half-integer spin supermultiplets are studied. For such massive and massless supermultiplets, a formulation in terms of light-cone gauge unconstrained superfields defined in a momentum superspace is developed. For the supermultiplets under consideration a superspace first derivative representation for all cubic interaction vertices is obtained. A superspace representation for dynamical generator…
This thesis presents a framework in which to explore kinematical symmetries beyond the standard Lorentzian case. This framework consists of an algebraic classification, a geometric classification, and a derivation of the geometric properties required to define physical theories on the classified spacetime geometries. The work completed in substantiating this framework for kinematical, super-kinematical, and super-Bargmann symmetries constitutes the body of this thesis. To this end, the classification of kinematical Lie algebras in spatial dimension $D = 3$, as presented in [3, 4], is reviewed;…
A superspace formulation is proposed for the osp(1,2)-covariant Lagrangian quantization of general massive gauge theories. The superalgebra os0(1,2) is considered as subalgebra of sl(1,2); the latter may be considered as the algebra of generators of the conformal group in a superspace with two anticommuting coordinates. The mass-dependent (anti)BRST symmetries of proper solutions of the quantum master equations in the osp(1,2)-covariant formalism are realized in that superspace as invariance under translations combined with mass-dependent special conformal transformations. The Sp(2) symmetry -…
After briefly reviewing the methods that allow us to derive consistently new Lie (super)algebras from given ones, we consider enlarged superspaces and superalgebras, their relevance and some possible applications.
The Noether charge algebras of D-brane actions contain two anomalous terms which modify the standard supertranslation algebra. We use a cocycle approach to derive associated spectra of topological charge algebras. The formalism is applied to $(p,q)$-strings and the D-membrane. The resulting spectra contain known algebras which allow the construction of extended superspace actions.
F-theory is the theory proposed to incorporate superstring theory in a way such that STU dualities are manifest. A useful description uses a current superalgebra on a higher-dimensional worldvolume, following from an action for a selfdual gauge field. Here the group "metric" appearing in the Schwinger (central charge) term of this current superalgebra is generalized to a tensor, in analogy to the usual generalization of the structure constants to the torsion (and curvature). This allows introduction of a massless background describing F-supergravity on the original bosonic worldvolume. The iso…
The five simple exceptional complex Lie superalgbras of vector fields are described. One of them is new; the other four are explicitely described for the first time. All of the exceptional Lie superalgebras are obtained with the help of the Cartan prolongation or a generalized prolongation. The description of several of the exceptional Lie superalgebras is associated with the Lie superalgebra AS - the nontrivial central extension of the supertraceless subalgebra SPE(4) of the periplectic Lie superalgebra PE(4) that preserves the nondegenerate odd bilinear form on the (4|4)-dimensional superspa…
Maximally supersymmetric mass deformation of the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson (BLG) theory corresponds to a {non-central} extension of the d=3 N=8 Poincare superalgebra (allowed in three dimensions). We obtain its light-cone superspace formulation which has a novel feature of the dynamical supersymmetry generators being {cubic} in the kinematical ones. The mass deformation picks a quaternionic direction, which breaks the SO(8) R-symmetry down to SO(4)xSO(4). The Hamiltonian of the theory is shown to be a quadratic form of the dynamical supersymmetry transformations, to all orders in the mass para…
The Bargmann algebra and centrally-extended Newton-Hooke algebras describe the non-relativistic symmetries of massive particles in flat and curved spacetimes, respectively. These three algebras all arise as deformations of the universal central-extension of the static kinematical Lie algebra. In this paper, we classify the N=1 super-extensions for each of these algebras in (3+1)-dimensions, up to isomorphism. We then identify the non-empty branches of the algebraic variety describing the N=2 super-extensions of these algebras. We find 9 isomorphism classes in the N=1 case and 22 branches in th…
Using the notion of a gauge connection on a flat superspace, we construct a general class of noncommutative ($D=2,$ $\mathcal{N}=1$) supertranslation algebras generalizing the ordinary algebra by inclusion of some new bosonic and fermionic operators. We interpret the new operators entering into the algebra as the generators of a U(1) (super) gauge symmery of the underlying theory on superspace. These superalgebras are gauge invariant, though not closed in general. We then show that these type of superalgebras are naturally realized in a supersymmetric field theory possessing a super U(1) gauge…
Starting with assumptions both simple and natural from "physical" point of view we present a direct construction of transformations preserving wide class of (anti)commutation relations which describe Euclidean/Minkowski superspace quantizations. These generalized transformations act on deformed superspaces as the ordinary ones do on undeformed spaces but they depend on non(anti)commuting parameters satisfying some consistent (anti)commutation relations. Once the coalgebraic structure compatible with the algebraic one is introduced in the set of transformations we deal with quantum symmetry sup…
We review the superspace technique to determine supersymmetric spacetimes in the framework of off-shell formulations for supergravity in diverse dimensions using the case of 3D N=2 supergravity theories as an illustrative example. This geometric formalism has several advantages over other approaches advocated in the last four years. Firstly, the infinitesimal isometry transformations of a given curved superspace form, by construction, a finite-dimensional Lie superalgebra, with its odd part corresponding to the rigid supersymmetry transformations. Secondly, the generalised Killing spinor equat…
We present a superspace formulation of the D=3, N=4,5 superconformal Chern-Simons Matter theories, with matter supermultiplets valued in a symplectic 3-algebra. We first construct an N=1 superconformal action, and then generalize a method used by Gaitto and Witten to enhance the supersymmetry from N=1 to N=5. By decomposing the N=5 supermultiplets and the symplectic 3-algebra properly and proposing a new super-potential term, we construct the N=4 superconformal Chern-Simons matter theories in terms of two sets of generators of a (quaternion) symplectic 3-algebra. The N=4 theories can also be d…
We present the class of deformations of simple Euclidean superalgebra, which describe the supersymmetrization of some Lie algebraic noncommutativity of D=4 Euclidean space-time. The presented deformations are generated by the supertwists. We provide new explicit formulae for a chosen twisted D=4 Euclidean Hopf superalgebra and describe the corresponding quantum covariant deformation of chiral Euclidean superspace.
The half-maximal supergravity theories in three dimensions, which have local $SO(8)\xz SO(n)$ and rigid SO(8,n) symmetries, are discussed in a superspace setting starting from the superconformal theory. The on-shell theory is obtained by imposing further constraints; it is essentially a non-linear sigma model that induces a Poincaré supergeometry. The deformations of the geometry due to gauging are briefly discussed. The possible $p$-form field strengths are studied using supersymmetry and SO(8,n) symmetry. The set of such forms obeying consistent Bianchi identities constitutes a Lie super co-…
This paper presents the classification, over the fields of real and complex numbers, of the minimal ${\mathbb Z}_2\times{\mathbb Z}_2$-graded Lie algebras and Lie superalgebras spanned by $4$ generators and with no empty graded sector. The inequivalent graded Lie (super)algebras are obtained by solving the constraints imposed by the respective graded Jacobi identities. A motivation for this mathematical result is to systematically investigate the properties of dynamical systems invariant under graded (super)algebras. Recent works only paid attention to the special case of the one-dimensional $…
