Special Metrics And Supersymmetry

All papers have been peer-reviewed. This volume includes the contributions to the International Workshop on Geometry and Physics: Special Metrics and Supersymmetry, held at the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain), from May 29 to 31, 2008. The topics covered by the volume deal with leading aspects of algebraic and differential geometry with special emphasis to their potential applications in supersymmetry and string theories. The areas covered by the proceedings are algebraic geometry, differential geometry and mathematical physics. In greater detail, they cover outstanding topics such as homological mirror symmetry, generalized Hodge theory, coassociative submanifolds, special geometric structures, geometric structures, Killing spinors, torsion geometry, string theory, supersymmetry and T-duality, among others.

Back in 1982, Edward Witten noticed that classical problems of differential geometry and differential topology such as the de Rham complex and Morse theory can be described in a very simple and transparent way using the language of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. Since then, many research papers have been written on this subject. Unfortunately not all the results in this field known to mathematicians have obtained a transparent physical interpretation, even if this new physical technique has also allowed many mathematical results to be derived which are completely new, in particular, hyper-Kaehler and the so-called HKT geometry. But in almost 40 years, no comprehensive monograph has appeared on this subject. So this book written by an expert in supersymmetric quantum field theories, supersymmetric quantum mechanics and its geometrical applications, addresses this yearning gap.It comprises three parts: The first, GEOMETRY, gives basic information on the geometry of real, complex, hyper-Kaehler and HKT manifolds, and is principally addressed to the physicist. The second part 'PHYSICS' presents information on classical mechanics with ordinary and Grassmann dynamics variables. Besides, the author introduces supersymmetry and dwells in particular on the representation of supersymmetry algebra in superspace. And the last and most important part of the book 'SYNTHESIS', is where the ideas borrowed from physics are used to study purely mathematical phenomena.

The purpose of this handbook is to give an overview of some recent developments in differential geometry related to supersymmetric field theories. The main themes covered are: Special geometry and supersymmetry Generalized geometry Geometries with torsion Para-geometries Holonomy theory Symmetric spaces and spaces of constant curvature Conformal geometry Wave equations on Lorentzian manifolds D-branes and K-theory The intended audience consists of advanced students and researchers working in differential geometry, string theory, and related areas. The emphasis is on geometrical structures occurring on target spaces of supersymmetric field theories. Some of these structures can be fully described in the classical framework of pseudo-Riemannian geometry. Others lead to new concepts relating various fields of research, such as special Kahler geometry or generalized geometry.

This widely acclaimed introduction to N = 1 supersymmetry and supergravity is aimed at readers familiar with relativistic quantum field theory who wish to learn about the supersymmetry algebra. In this new volume Supersymmetry and Supergravity has been greatly expanded to include a detailed derivation of the most general coupling of super-symmetric gauge theory to supergravity. The final result is the starting point for phenomenological studies of supersymmetric theories. The book is distinguished by its pedagogical approach to supersymmetry. It develops several topics in advanced field theory as the need arises. It emphasizes the logical coherence of the subject and should appeal to physicists whose interests range from the mathematical to the phenomenological. In praise of the first edition: "A beautiful exposition of the original ideas of Wess and Zumino in formulating N = 1 supersymmetry and supergravity theories, couched in the language of superfields introduced by Strathdee and the reviewer.... [All] serious students of particle physics would do well to acquire a copy."--Abdus Salam, Nature "An excellent introduction to this exciting area of theoretical physics."--C. J. Isham, Physics Bulletin

Offers a systematic presentation of the modern quantum field theory of non-linear sigma-models. These models are very popular in theoretical high energy physics, string theory, and statistical physics. The geometric and quantum renormalization properties of the most general non-linear sigma-models are considered in detail within the framework of quantum perturbation theory. The main applications to be considered in the book can be found in string theory, conformal field theory, and general relativity.

This is the third volume in a series of books on general topics in supersymmetric mechanics. This collection presents material from the well established international and annual INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati Winter School on the Attractor Mechanism.

Supersymmetry was created by the physicists in the 1970's to give a unified treatment of fermions and bosons, the basic constituents of matter. Since then its mathematical structure has been recognized as that of a new development in geometry, and mathematicians have busied themselves with exploring this aspect. This volume collects recent advances in this field, both from a physical and a mathematical point of view, with an accent on a rigorous treatment of the various questions raised.

This book introduces two-dimensional supersymmetric field theories with emphasis on both linear and non-linear sigma models. Complex differential geometry, in connection with supersymmetry, has played a key role in most developments of the last thirty years in quantum field theory and string theory. Both structures introduce a great deal of rigidity compared to the more general categories of non-supersymmetric theories and real differential geometry, allowing for many general conceptual results and detailed quantitative predictions. Two-dimensional (0,2) supersymmetric quantum field theories provide a natural arena for the fruitful interplay between geometry and quantum field theory. These theories play an important role in string theory and provide generalizations, still to be explored fully, of rich structures such as mirror symmetry. They also have applications to non-perturbative four-dimensional physics, for instance as descriptions of surface defects or low energy dynamics of solitonic strings in four-dimensional supersymmetric theories. The purpose of these lecture notes is to acquaint the reader with these fascinating theories, assuming a background in conformal theory, quantum field theory and differential geometry at the beginning graduate level. In order to investigate the profound relations between structures from complex geometry and field theory the text begins with a thorough examination of the basic structures of (0,2) quantum field theory and conformal field theory. Next, a simple class of Lagrangian theories, the (0,2) Landau-Ginzburg models, are discussed, together with the resulting renormalization group flows, dynamics, and symmetries. After a thorough introduction and examination of (0,2) non-linear sigma models, the text introduces linear sigma models that, in particular, provide a unified treatment of non-linear sigma models and Landau-Ginzburg theories. Many exercises, along with discussions of relevant mathematical notions and important open problems in the field, are included in the text.