We develop a novel bi-harmonic $\mathcal{N}=4$ superspace formulation of the $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM) in four dimensions. In this approach, the $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM superfield constraints are solved in terms of on-shell $\mathcal {N}=2$ harmonic superfields. Such an approach provides a convenient tool of constructing the manifestly $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric invariants and further rewriting them in $\mathcal{N}= 2$ harmonic superspace. In particular, we present $\mathcal{N}=4$ superfield form of the leading term in the $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM effective action which was known previously in $\mathcal{N}=2$ superspace formulation.
We review harmonic superspaces of the D=3, N=3 and 4 supersymmetries and gauge models in these superspaces. Superspaces of the D=3, N=5 supersymmetry use harmonic coordinates of the SO(5) group. The superfield N=5 actions describe the off-shell infinite-dimensional Chern-Simons supermultiplet.
A short survey of some aspects of harmonic superspace is given. In particular, the $d=3, N=8$ scalar supermultiplet and the $d=6, N=(2,0)$ tensor multiplet are described as analytic superfields in appropriately defined harmonic superspaces.
We derive harmonic superspaces for N=2,3,4 SYM theory in four dimensions from superstring theory. The pure spinors in ten dimensions are dimensionally reduced and yield the harmonic coordinates. Two anticommuting BRST charges implement Grassmann analyticity and harmonic analyticity. The string field theory action produces the action and field equations for N=3 SYM theory in harmonic superspace.
This paper describes a fully covariant approach to harmonic superspace. It is based on the conformal superspace description of conformal supergravity and involves extending the supermanifold M^{4|8} by the tangent bundle of CP^1. The resulting superspace M^{4|8} x TCP^1 can be identified in a certain gauge with the conventional harmonic superspace M^{4|8} x S^2. This approach not only makes the connection to projective superspace transparent, but simplifies calculations in harmonic superspace significantly by eliminating the need to deal directly with supergravity prepotentials. As an applicat…
We analyse the relationship between the N=2 harmonic and projective superspaces which are the only approaches developed to describe general N=2 super Yang-Mills theories in terms of off-shell supermultiplets with conventional supersymmetry. The structure of low-energy hypermultiplet effective action is briefly discussed.
A family of harmonic superspaces associated with four-dimensional spacetime is described. Some applications to supersymmetric field theories, including supergravity, are given.
The paper is a brief review of the works devoted to problem of effective action in N=2 super Yang-Mills theories in harmonic superspace approach. The formulation of N=2 superfield models in harmonic superspace is discussed, background field method for N=2 super Yang-Mills theory is constructed and general structure of effective action in harmonic superspace is investigated. It is shown how the holomorphic and non-holomorphic contributions to effective action can be calculated within the harmonic superspace approach.
The SU(3)/U(1) x U(1) harmonic variables are used in the harmonic-superspace representation of the D=4, N=3 SYM-equations. The harmonic superfield equations of motion in the simple non-covariant gauge contain the nilpotent harmonic analytic connections. It is shown that these harmonic SYM-equations are equivalent to the finite set of solvable linear iterative equations.
We give a brief account of two recent applications of the harmonic superspace method: (i) an off-shell description of torsionful $(4,4)$ supersymmetric $2D$ sigma models in the framework of $SU(2)\times SU(2)$ harmonic superspace and (ii) the harmonic superspace formulation of ``small'' $N=4$ $SU(2)$ superconformal algebra and the related super KdV hierarchy.
In this paper we will analyse the ABJM theory in harmonic superspace. The harmonic superspace variables will be parameterized by the coset $SU(2)/U(1)$ and thus will have manifest $\mathcal{N} =3$ supersymmetry. We will study the quantum gauge transformations and the BRST transformations of this theory in gaugeon formalism. We will use this BRST symmetry to project out the physical sub-space from the total Hilbert space. We will also show that the evolution of the $\mathcal{S}$-matrix is unitary for this ABJM theory in harmonic superspace.
In our recent paper arXiv:0704.1185 [hep-th], we presented the differential geometry of five-dimensional N=1 anti-de Sitter superspace AdS^{5|8}=SU(2,2|1)/SO(4,1) x U(1) and developed the harmonic and the projective superspace settings to formulate off-shell supersymmetric theories in AdS^{5|8}. Here we give a brief review of the geometry and the harmonic superspace construction, and also elaborate on vector supermultiplets.
We sketch recent applications of the harmonic superspace approach for off-shell formulations of $(4,4)$, $2D$ sigma models with torsion and for constructing super KdV hierarchies associated with "small" and "large" $N=4$ superconformal algebras.
Within the supertwistor approach, we analyse the superconformal structure of 4D N = 2 compactified harmonic/projective superspace. In the case of 5D superconformal symmetry, we derive the superconformal Killing vectors and related building blocks which emerge in the transformation laws of primary superfields. Various off-shell superconformal multiplets are presented both in 5D harmonic and projective superspaces, including the so-called tropical (vector) multiplet and polar (hyper)multiplet. Families of superconformal actions are described both in the 5D harmonic and projective superspace sett…
Representations of four-dimensional superconformal groups on harmonic superfields are discussed. It is shown how various short representations can be obtained by parabolic induction. It is also shown that such short multiplets may admit several descriptions as superfields on different superspaces. In particular, this is the case for on-shell massless superfields. This allows a description of short representations as explicit products of fundamental fields. Superconformal transformations of analytic fields in real harmonic superspaces are given explicitly.
Three-dimensional field theories with N=3 and N=4 supersymmetries are considered in the framework of the harmonic-superspace approach. Analytic superspaces of these supersymmetries are similar; however, the geometry of gauge theories with the manifest N=3 is richer and admits construction of the topological mass term.
We analyze the superfield equations of the 4-dimensional N=4 SYM-theory using light-cone gauge conditions and the harmonic-superspace approach. The harmonic superfield equations of motion are drastically simplified in this gauge, in particular, the basic harmonic-superfield matrices and the corresponding harmonic analytic gauge connections become nilpotent on-shell.
We analyze the superfield constraints of the D=4, N=3 SYM-theory using light-cone gauge conditions. The SU(3)/U(1) x U(1) harmonic variables are interpreted as auxiliary spectral parameters, and the transform to the harmonic-superspace representation is considered. The harmonic superfield equations of motion are drastically simplified in our gauge, in particular, the basic matrix of the harmonic transform and the corresponding harmonic analytic gauge connections become nilpotent on-shell. It is shown that these harmonic SYM-equations are equivalent to the finite set of solvable linear iterativ…
We analyze the superfield constraints of the D=4, N=3 SYM-theory using light-cone gauge conditions. The SU(3)/U(1)xU(1) harmonic variables are interpreted as auxiliary spectral parameters, and the transform to the harmonic-superspace representation is considered. Our nilpotent gauge for the basic harmonic superfield simplifies the SYM-equations of motion. A partial Grassmann decomposition of these equations yields the solvable linear system of iterative equations.
In harmonic superspace, the classical equations of motion of $D=4, N=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory for Minkowski and Euclidean spaces are analyzed. We study dual superfield representations of equations and subsidiary conditions corresponding to classical SYM-solutions with different symmetries. In particular, alternative superfield constructions of self-dual and static solutions are described in the framework of the harmonic approach.
We study the boundary limit of the bulk isometries of AdS x S. The superconformal symmetry is realized on the coordinates of the AdS boundary, the fermionic superspace coordinates, and the harmonics on the sphere. We show how these may be related to the coordinates of an off-shell harmonic superspace of SCFT living on the boundary. In the special case of d=4, N=2 super Yang-Mills theory, a truncation of the N=4 SYM dual to Type IIB string theory compactified on AdS_5 x S^5, we identify the bosonic space SU(2)/U(1) of the N=2 harmonic superspace (known before as auxiliary) with the S^2 submanif…
A twistor correspondence for the self-duality equations for supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories is developed. Their solutions are shown to be encoded in analytic harmonic superfields satisfying appropriate generalised Cauchy-Riemann conditions. An action principle yielding these conditions is presented.
It is a brief account of the harmonic superspace formulations of {\cal N}=(1,0) and {\cal N}=(1,1) SYM theories in six dimensions. The on-shell {\cal N}=(1,1) harmonic superspace is argued to provide an efficient tool of constructing candidate counterterms and other invariants of {\cal N}=(1,1) SYM. It allows one, e.g., to find out an essential difference between the single- and double-trace dimension d=10 invariants, which could be capable to explain the absence of the three-loop double-trace (non-planar) counterterms in this theory. The defining superspace constraints of {\cal N}=(1,1) SYM a…
Methods developed for the analysis of non-linear integrable models are used in the harmonic superspace (HS) framework. These methods, when applied to the HS, can lead to extract more information about the meaning of integrability in non-linear physical problems. Among the results obtained, we give the basic ingredients towards building in the HS language the analogue of the G.D. algebra of pseudo-differential operators. Some useful convention notations and algebraic structures are also introduced to make the use of the harmonic superspace techniques more accessible.
Representations of four-dimensional superconformal groups on harmonic superfields are discussed. It is argued that any representation can be given as a superfield on many superflag manifolds. Representations on analytic superspaces do not require constraints. We discuss short representations and how to obtain them as explicit products of fundamental fields. We also discuss superfields that transform under supergroups.
We consider ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory in a nonanticommutative ${\cal N}=2$ harmonic superspace with the singlet deformation. We generalize analytic superfield and gauge parameter to the nonanticommutative theory so that gauge transformations act on the component fields in a canonical form (Seiberg-Witten map). This superfield, upon a field redefinition transforms under supersymmetry in a standard way.
We review a manifestly supersymmetric off-shell formulation of a wide class of torsionful $(4,4)$ $2D$ sigma models and their massive deformations in the harmonic superspace with a double set of $SU(2)$ harmonic variables. Sigma models with both commuting and non-commuting left and right complex structures are treated.
Recent papers have established the relationship between projective superspace and a complexified version of harmonic superspace. We extend this construction to the case of general nonlinear sigma models in both frameworks. Using an analogy with Hamiltonian mechanics, we demonstrate how the Hamiltonian structure of the harmonic action and the symplectic structure of the projective action naturally arise from a single unifying action on a complexified version of harmonic superspace. This links the harmonic and projective descriptions of hyperkahler target spaces. For the two examples of Taub-NUT…
We consider the $SYM^1_6$ harmonic-superspace system of equations that contains superfield constraints and equations of motion for the simplest six-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theory. A special $A$-frame of the analytic basis is introduced where a kinematic equation for the harmonic connection $A^{\s--}$ can be solved . A dynamical equation in this frame is equivalent to the zero-curvature equation corresponding to the covariant conservation of analyticity. Using a simple harmonic gauge condition for the gauge group $SU(2)$ we derive the superfield equations that produce the general $SYM^…
We consider the six dimensional hypermultiplet, vector and tensor multiplet models in (1,0) harmonic superspace and discuss the corresponding superfield actions. The actions for free (2,0) tensor multiplet and for interacting vector/tensor multiplet system are constructed. Using the superfield formulation of the hypermultiplet coupled to the vector/tensor system we develop an approach to calculation of the one-loop superfield effective action and find its divergent structure.
We consider the harmonic-superspace ($HS$) system of equations that contains superfield $SYM^1_6$ constraints and equations of motion. A dynamical equation in the special $A$-frame is equivalent to the zero-curvature equation corresponding to a covariant conservation of $HS$-analyticity. Properties of a general $SYM^1_6$ solution for the gauge group $SU(2)$ are studied in the simplest harmonic gauge. An analogous approach to the integrability interpretation of $SYM$-$SG$-matter systems in $HS$ is discussed briefly.
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 $AdS_5$.
We quantize super Yang-Mills action in $\mathcal{N}=3$ harmonic superspace using "Fermi-Feynman" gauge and also develop the background field formalism. This leads to simpler propagators and Feynman rules that are useful in performing explicit calculations. The superspace rules are used to show that divergences do not appear at 1-loop and beyond. We also compute a finite contribution to the effective action from a 4-point diagram at 1-loop, which matches the expected covariant result.
We study N=2 supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory in the noncommutative harmonic superspace with nonanticommutative fermionic coordinates. We examine the gauge transformation which preserves the Wess-Zumino gauge by harmonic expansions of component fields. The gauge transformation is shown to depend on the deformation parameters and the anti-holomorphic scalar field. We compute the action explicitly up to the third order in component fields and discuss the field redefinitions so that the component fields transform canonically.
We study the N=4 harmonic superparticle model, both with and without central charge and quantize it. Since the central charge breaks the U(4) R-symmetry group of the N=4 superalgebra down to USp(4), we consider the superparticle dynamics in N=4 harmonic superspace with USp(4)/(U(1)xU(1)) harmonic variables. We show that the quantization of a massive superparticle with central charge leads to a superfield realization of the N=4 massive vector multiplet in N=4 harmonic superspace. In the massless case without central charge the superparticle quantization reproduces three different multiplets: th…
We consider the map of three-dimensional N=4 superfields to N=3 harmonic superspace. The left and right representations of the N=4 superconformal group are constructed on N=3 analytic superfields. These representations are convenient for the description of N=4 superconformal couplings of the Abelian gauge superfields with hypermultiplets. We analyze the N=4 invariance in the non-Abelian N=3 Yang-Mills theory.
We consider the superspace of D=3, N=5 supersymmetry using SO(5)/U(2) harmonic coordinates. Three analytic N=5 gauge superfields depend on three vector and six harmonic bosonic coordinates and also on six Grassmann coordinates. Decomposition of these superfields in Grassmann and harmonic coordinates yields infinite-dimensional supermultiplets including a three-dimensional gauge Chern-Simons field and auxiliary bosonic and fermionic fields carrying SO(5) vector indices. The superfield action of this theory is invariant with respect to D=3, N=6 conformal supersymmetry realized on N=5 superfields…
We develop a systematic approach to construct the one-loop ${\cal N}=4$ SYM effective action depending on both ${\cal N}=2$ vector multiplet and hypermultiplet background fields. Beginning with the formulation of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM theory in terms of ${\cal N}=2$ harmonic superfields, we construct the one-loop effective action using the covariant ${\cal N}=2$ harmonic supergraphs and calculate it in ${\cal N}=2$ harmonic superfield form for constant Abelian strength $F_{mn}$ and corresponding constant hypermultiplet fields. The hypermultiplet-dependent effective action is derived and given by in…
We discuss a formulation of harmonic superspace approach for noncommuative N=2 supersymmetric field theories paying main attention on new features arising because of noncommutativity. We begin with the known notions of the harmonic superfield models and results obtained and consider how these notions and results are modified in the noncommutative case. The actions of basic N=2 models, like hypermultiplet and N=2 vector multiplet, are given in terms of unconstrained off-shell superfields on noncommutative harmonic superspace. We calculate the low-energy contributions to the effective actions of…
We consider the harmonic-superspace formalism in the $N=4$ supersymmetry using the $SU(4)/SU(2)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$ harmonics which was earlier applied to the abelian gauge theory. The N=4 non-abelian constraints in a standard superspace are reformulated as the harmonic-superspace equations for two basic analytic superfields: the independent superfield strength W of a dimension 1 and the dimensionless harmonic gauge 4-prepotential V having the $U(1)$ charge 2. These constraint equations I manifestly depend on the Grassmann coordinates $θ$, although they are covariant under the unusual N=4 …
We develop N=4 d=4 bi-harmonic superspace and use it to derive a novel form for the low-energy effective action in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. We solve the N=4 supergauge constraints in this superspace in terms of analytic superfields. Using these superfields, we construct a simple functional that respects N=4 supersymmetry and scale invariance. In components, it reproduces all on-shell terms in the four-derivative part of the N=4 SYM effective action; in particular, the F^4/X^4 and Wess-Zumino terms. The latter comes out in a novel SO(3) x SO(3)-invariant form.
We analyse the one-loop effective action of N=4 SYM theory in the framework of the background field formalism in N=2 harmonic superspace. For the case of on-shell background N=2 vector multiplet we prove that the effective action is free of harmonic singularities. When the lowest N=1 superspace component of the N=2 vector multiplet is switched off, the effective action of N=4 SYM theory is shown to coincide with that obtained by Grisaru et al on the base of the N=1 background field method. We compute the leading non-holomorphic corrections to the N=4 SU(2) SYM effective action.
We develop a superfield approach to compute chiral anomalies in general ${\cal N}=(1,0)$ supersymmetric gauge theories in six dimensions. Within the harmonic-superspace formulation for these gauge theories, the anomalous contributions to the effective action only come from matter and ghost hypermultiplets. By studying the short-distance behaviour of the propagator for the hypermultiplet coupled to a background vector multiplet, we compute the covariant and consistent chiral anomalies. We also provide a superform formulation for the non-abelian anomalous current multiplet in general ${\cal N}=(…
Analytical harmonic superfields are the basic variables of a standard harmonic formalism of SYM^2_4-theory. We consider superfield actions for alternative formulations of this theory using the unconstrained harmonic prepotentials. The corresponding equations of motion are equivalent to the component field equations of SYM^2_4-theory. The analyticity condition appears only on-shell as the zero-curvature equation in the alternative formulations.
The N-extended self-dual supergravity in the ultra-hyperbolic four-dimensional spacetime of kleinian signature (2+2) is given in the N-extended harmonic superspace. We reformulate the on-shell N-extended self-dual supergravity constraints of Siegel to a `zero-curvature' representation, and solve all of them but one in terms of a single superfield prepotential, by using a covariant Frobenius gauge in the Devchand-Ogievetsky approach. An off-shell superspace action, whose equation of motion yields the remaining constraint, is found. Our manifestly Lorentz-covariant action in harmonic superspace …
We consider the off-shell formulation of the 5D, $ {\cal N}$=1 super Yang-Mills and super Chern-Simons theories in harmonic superspace. Using such a formulation we develop a manifestly supersymmetric and gauge invariant approach to constructing the one-loop effective action both in super Yang-Mills and super Chern-Simons models. On the base of this approach we compute the leading low-energy quantum contribution to the effective action on the Abelian vector multiplet background. This contribution corresponds to $F^4$ invariant which is given in 5D superfield form.
We define N=4, d=1 harmonic superspace HR^{1+2|4} with an SU(2)/U(1) harmonic part, SU(2) being one of two factors of the R-symmetry group SU(2)xSU(2) of N=4, d=1 Poincaré supersymmetry. We reformulate, in this new setting, the models of N=4 supersymmetric quantum mechanics associated with the off-shell multiplets (3, 4, 1) and (4, 4, 0). The latter admit a natural description as constrained superfields living in an analytic subspace of HR^{1+2|4}. We construct the relevant superfield actions consisting of a sigma-model as well as a superpotential parts and demonstrate that the superpotentials…
We present a Lagrangian formulation for N=4 supersymmetric quantum-mechanical systems describing the motion in external non-Abelian self-dual gauge fields. For any such system, one can write a component supersymmetric Lagrangian by introducing extra bosonic variables with topological Chern-Simons type interaction. For a special class of such system when the fields are expressed in the `t Hooft ansatz form, it is possible to give a superfield description using harmonic superspace formalism. As a new explicit example, the N=4 mechanics with Yang monopole is constructed.
Starting from the action of $(4,4)$ $2D$ twisted multiplets in the harmonic superspace with a double set of $SU(2)$ harmonic variables, we present its generalization which provides an off-shell description of a wide class of $(4,4)$ sigma models with torsion and non-commuting left and right complex structures. The distinguishing features of the action constructed are: (i) a nonabelian and in general nonlinear gauge invariance ensuring a correct number of physical degrees of freedom; (ii) an infinite tower of auxiliary fields. For a particular class of such models we explicitly demonstrate the …
We construct the Grassmann-analytic gauge superfields in D=3, N=5 harmonic superspace using the SO(5)/U(1)xU(1) harmonics. These gauge N=5 superfields contain an infinite number of bosonic and fermionic fields arising from decompositions in harmonics and Grassmann coordinates. The bosonic sector of this supermultiplet includes the gauge field A_m, the additional nongauge vector field B_m, the scalar field S, two SO(5)-vector scalar fields and an infinite number of auxiliary fields with SO(5) indices. The nonabelian Chern-Simons-type action in the N=5 analytic harmonic superspace is constructed…
We consider the harmonic superspaces associated to SU(2,2/N) superconformal algebras. For arbitrary N, we show that massless representations, other than the chiral ones, correspond to [N/2] ``elementary'' ultrashort analytic superfields whose first component is a scalar in the k antisymmetric irrep of SU(N) (k=1... [N/2]) with top spin $J_{\rm\scriptsize top}= (N/2-k/2,0)$. For N=2n we analyze UIR's obtained by tensoring the self-conjugate ultrashort multiplet $J_{\rm\scriptsize top}$= (n/2,0) and show that N-1 different basic products give rise to all possible UIR's with residual shortening.
It is shown that the N=3 harmonic-superfield equations of motion are invariant with respect to the 4-th supersymmetry. The SU(3) harmonics are also used to analyze a more flexible form of superfield constraints for the Abelian N=4 vector multiplet and its N=3 decomposition. An alternative unusual representation of the N=4 supersymmetry is realized on infinite multiplets of analytic superfields in the N=3 harmonic superspace. U(1) charges of superfields in these multiplets are parametrized by an integer- valued parameter which plays the role of the discrete coordinate. Each superfield term of t…
We present a manifestly supersymmetric off-shell formulation of a wide class of $(4,4)$ $2D$ sigma models with torsion and both commuting and non-commuting left and right complex structures in the harmonic superspace with a double set of $SU(2)$ harmonic variables. The distinguishing features of the relevant superfield action are: (i) in general nonabelian and nonlinear gauge invariance ensuring a correct number of physical degrees of freedom; (ii) an infinite tower of auxiliary fields. This action is derived from the most general one by imposing the integrability condition which follows from …
We define basics of $(4,4)\;\; 2D$ harmonic superspace with two independent sets of $SU(2)$ harmonic variables and apply it to construct new superfield actions of $(4,4)$ supersymmetric two-dimensional sigma models with torsion and mutually commuting left and right complex structures, as well as of their massive deformations. We show that the generic off-shell sigma model action is the general action of constrained analytic superfields $q^{(1,1)}$ representing twisted $N=4$ multiplets in $(4,4)$ harmonic superspace. The massive term of $q^{(1,1)}$ is shown to be unique; it generates a scalar p…
We review various superspace approaches to the description of the low-energy effective action in N=4 super Yang-Mills (SYM) theory. We consider the four-derivative part of the low-energy effective action in the Coulomb branch. The typical components of this effective action are the gauge field F^4/X^4 and the scalar field Wess-Zumino terms. We construct N=4 supersymmetric completions of these terms in the framework of different harmonic superspaces supporting N=2,3,4 supersymmetries. These approaches are complementary to each other in the sense that they make manifest different subgroups of th…
Within the background field formulation in harmonic superspace for quantum N = 2 super Yang-Mills theories, the propagators of the matter, gauge and ghost superfields possess a complicated dependence on the SU(2) harmonic variables via the background vector multiplet. This dependence is shown to simplify drastically in the case of an on-shell vector multiplet. For a covariantly constant background vector multiplet, we exactly compute all the propagators. In conjunction with the covariant multi-loop scheme developed in hep-th/0302205, these results provide an efficient (manifestly N = 2 supersy…
