Superspace
Superspace is the coordinate space of a theory exhibiting
The word "superspace" was first used by John Wheeler in an unrelated sense to describe the configuration space of general relativity; for example, this usage may be seen in his 1973 textbook Gravitation.
Informal discussion
There are several similar, but not equivalent, definitions of superspace that have been used, and continue to be used in the mathematical and physics literature. One such usage is as a synonym for
Superspace is also commonly used as a synonym for the
A third usage of the term "superspace" is as a synonym for a supermanifold: a supersymmetric generalization of a manifold. Note that both super Minkowski spaces and super vector spaces can be taken as special cases of supermanifolds.
A fourth, and completely unrelated meaning saw a brief usage in general relativity; this is discussed in greater detail at the bottom.
Examples
Several examples are given below. The first few assume a definition of superspace as a super vector space. This is denoted as Rm|n, the Z2-graded vector space with Rm as the even subspace and Rn as the odd subspace. The same definition applies to Cm|n.
The four-dimensional examples take superspace to be
Trivial examples
The smallest superspace is a point which contains neither bosonic nor fermionic directions. Other trivial examples include the n-dimensional real plane Rn, which is a
The superspace of supersymmetric quantum mechanics
Supersymmetric quantum mechanics with N supercharges is often formulated in the superspace R1|2N, which contains one real direction t identified with time and N complex Grassmann directions which are spanned by Θi and Θ*i, where i runs from 1 to N.
Consider the special case N = 1. The superspace R1|2 is a 3-dimensional vector space. A given coordinate therefore may be written as a triple (t, Θ, Θ*). The coordinates form a
where is the commutator of a and b and is the anticommutator of a and b.
One may define functions from this vector space to itself, which are called
Superfields, which are representations of the supersymmetry of superspace, generalize the notion of tensors, which are representations of the rotation group of a bosonic space.
One may then define derivatives in the Grassmann directions, which take the first order term in the expansion of a superfield to the zeroeth order term and annihilate the zeroeth order term. One can choose sign conventions such that the derivatives satisfy the anticommutation relations
These derivatives may be assembled into supercharges
whose anticommutators identify them as the fermionic generators of a supersymmetry algebra
where i times the time derivative is the Hamiltonian operator in quantum mechanics. Both Q and its adjoint anticommute with themselves. The supersymmetry variation with supersymmetry parameter ε of a superfield Φ is defined to be
We can evaluate this variation using the action of Q on the superfields
Similarly one may define covariant derivatives on superspace
which anticommute with the supercharges and satisfy a wrong sign supersymmetry algebra
- .
The fact that the covariant derivatives anticommute with the supercharges means the supersymmetry transformation of a covariant derivative of a superfield is equal to the covariant derivative of the same supersymmetry transformation of the same superfield. Thus, generalizing the covariant derivative in bosonic geometry which constructs tensors from tensors, the superspace covariant derivative constructs superfields from superfields.
Supersymmetric extensions of Minkowski space
N = 1 super Minkowski space
Perhaps the most studied concrete superspace in physics is super Minkowski space or sometimes written , which is the direct sum of four real bosonic dimensions and four real Grassmann dimensions (also known as fermionic dimensions or spin dimensions).[5]
In
For this reason, in physical applications one considers an action of the supersymmetry algebra on the four fermionic directions of such that they transform as a
Note: There are many sign conventions in use and this is only one of them.
Therefore the four fermionic directions transform as a Majorana spinor . We can also form a conjugate spinor
where is the charge conjugation matrix, which is defined by the property that when it conjugates a
In particular we may construct the supercharges
which satisfy the supersymmetry algebra
where is the 4-momentum operator. Again the covariant derivative is defined like the supercharge but with the second term negated and it anticommutes with the supercharges. Thus the covariant derivative of a supermultiplet is another supermultiplet.
Extended supersymmetry
It is possible to have sets of supercharges with , although this is not possible for all values of .
These supercharges generate translations in a total of spin dimensions, hence forming the superspace .
In general relativity
The word "superspace" is also used in a completely different and unrelated sense, in the book Gravitation by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler. There, it refers to the configuration space of general relativity, and, in particular, the view of gravitation as geometrodynamics, an interpretation of general relativity as a form of dynamical geometry. In modern terms, this particular idea of "superspace" is captured in one of several different formalisms used in solving the Einstein equations in a variety of settings, both theoretical and practical, such as in numerical simulations. This includes primarily the ADM formalism, as well as ideas surrounding the Hamilton–Jacobi–Einstein equation and the Wheeler–DeWitt equation.
See also
- Chiral superspace
- Harmonic superspace
- Projective superspace
- Super Minkowski space
- Supergroup
- Lie superalgebra
Notes
- ISBN 0-8053 3161-1.
- ISBN 978-981-3203-21-1.
- ISBN 0521 42377 5.
- ISBN 3-540-63654-4.
- ^ Yuval Ne'eman, Elena Eizenberg, Membranes and Other Extendons (p-branes), World Scientific, 1995, p. 5.
References
- ISBN 978-1-4020-1338-6(Second printing)