Classification of supersymmetries

Talk given at the conference "Visions in Mathematics toward the year 2000", August 1999, Tel-Aviv.

Beginning from a discussion of the known most fundamental dynamical structures of the Standard Model of physics, extended into the realms of mathematics and theory by the concept of "supersymmetry" or "SUSY," an introduction to efforts to develop a complete representation theory is given. Techniques drawing from graph theory, coding theory, Coxeter Groups, Riemann surfaces, and computational approaches to the study of algebraic varieties are briefly highlighted as pathways fo...

These are expanded notes for a short series of lectures, presented at the University of Luxembourg in 2017, giving an introduction to some of the ideas of supersymmetry and supergeometry. In particular, we start from some motivating facts in physics, pass to the theory of supermanifolds, then to spinors, ending up at super-Minkowski space-times. We examine some salient mathematical issues with understanding supersymmetry in a classical setting and make no attempt to discuss p...

The notion of a Lie conformal superalgebra encodes an axiomatic descrption of singular parts of the operator product expansions of chiral fields in conformal field theory. In the paper we give a detailed proof of the classification of all finite simple Lie conformal superalgebras. We also classify all their central extensions.

In this thesis we study classical aspects of superconformal field theory via symmetry principles. Specifically, by employing the powerful setup of conformal superspace, we obtain a plethora of new results in the fields of geometric and higher symmetries, (super)conformal higher-spin theory and conformal supergravity. These findings open up numerous novel research pathways.

We present two novel proofs of the known classification of connected affine algebraic supergroups $G$ such that $\operatorname{Rep}G$ is semisimple. The proofs are geometrically motivated, although both rely on an algebraic lemma that characterizes $\mathfrak{osp}(1|2n)$ amongst simple Lie superalgebras.

These five lectures collect elementary facts about 4D supersymmetric theories with emphasis on N=1 supersymmetry, as well as the basic notions of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. Contents: I. From symmetries to supersymmetry; II. Basic features of supersymmetry; III. Representations of supersymmetry; IV. Superspace and superfields; V. Supersymmetric quantum mechanics.

Here I briefly discuss why supersymmetry is considered a leading candidate of physics beyond the standard model. I also highlight the salient features of different supersymmetry breaking models. A few other symmetries, broken or intact, asscociated with any realistic supersymmetric model are also identified. This write-up is too simple-minded for an expert on supersymmetry. It is basically intended for those who are busy in other areas of high energy physics.

This text is a short but comprehensive introduction to the basics of supergeometry and includes some of the recent advances in colored supergeometry. We do not aim for a standard text that states results and proves them more or less rigorously, but all too often offers little insight to the uninformed reader. Instead we opted for a smooth exposition of the successive themes, choosing an order and an approach which are close to the way these pieces of mathematics could have be...

The main definitions and properties of Lie superalgebras are proposed a la facon de a short dictionary, the different items following the alphabetical order. The main topics deal with the structure of simple Lie superalgebras and their finite dimensional representations; rather naturally, a few pages are devoted to supersymmetry. This modest booklet has two ambitious goals: to be elementary and easy to use. The beginner is supposed to find out here the main concepts on supera...