A note on four-point functions of conformal operators in N=4 Super-Yang Mills

We find that the first-order correction to the free-field result for the four-point function of the conformal operator \tr(\phi^i\phi^j) is nonvanishing and survives in the limit N_c \rar \infty.Comment: 4 pages, 7 eps-figs, LaTeX. Typos corrected, refs adde

Non-renormalization of two and three Point Correlators of N=4 SYM in N=1 Superspace

Certain two and three point functions of gauge invariant primary operators of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM are computed in ${\cal N}=1$ superspace keeping all the $\th$-components. This allows one to read off many component descendent correlators. Our results show the only possible $g^2_{YM}$ corrections to the free field correlators are contact terms. Therefore they vanish for operators at separate points, verifying the known non-renormalization theorems. This also implies the results are consistent with ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetry even though the Lagrangian we use has only ${\cal N}=1$ manifest supersymmetry. We repeat some of the calculations using supersymmetric Landau gauge and obtain, as expected, the same results as those of supersymmetric Feynman gauge.Comment: 10 pages, 20 eps figures, references adde

Slow sedimentation and deformability of charged lipid vesicles

The study of vesicles in suspension is important to understand the complicated dynamics exhibited by cells in vivo and in vitro. We developed a computer simulation based on the boundary-integral method to model the three dimensional gravity-driven sedimentation of charged vesicles towards a flat surface. The membrane mechanical behavior was modeled using the Helfrich Hamiltonian and near incompressibility of the membrane was enforced via a model which accounts for the thermal fluctuations of the membrane. The simulations were verified and compared to experimental data obtained using suspended vesicles labelled with a fluorescent probe, which allows visualization using fluorescence microscopy and confers the membrane with a negative surface charge. The electrostatic interaction between the vesicle and the surface was modeled using the linear Derjaguin approximation for a low ionic concentration solution. The sedimentation rate as a function of the distance of the vesicle to the surface was determined both experimentally and from the computer simulations. The gap between the vesicle and the surface, as well as the shape of the vesicle at equilibrium were also studied. It was determined that inclusion of the electrostatic interaction is fundamental to accurately predict the sedimentation rate as the vesicle approaches the surface and the size of the gap at equilibrium, we also observed that the presence of charge in the membrane increases its rigidity

Five-dimensional supersymmetric Chern-Simons action as a hypermultiplet quantum correction

Building on the covariant supergraph techniques in 4D N = 2 harmonic superspace, we develop a manifestly 5D N = 1 supersymmetric and gauge covariant formalism to compute the one-loop effective action for a hypermultiplet coupled to a background vector multiplet. As a simple application, we demonstrate the generation of a supersymmetric Chern-Simons action at the quantum level, both in the Coulomb and the non-Abelian phases. These superfield results are in agreement with the earlier component considerations of Seiberg et al. Our analysis suggests that similar calculations in terms of hybrid 4D superfields or within the 5D projective superspace approach may allow one to extract suitable formulations for the non-Abelian 5D supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 12 page

Nonholomorphic N=2 terms in N=4 SYM: 1-Loop Calculation in N=2 superspace

The effective action of N=2 gauge multiplets in general includes higher-dimension UV finite nonholomorphic corrections integrated with the full N=2 superspace measure. By adding a hypermultiplet in the adjoint representation we study the effective action of N=4 SYM. The nonanomalous SU(4) R-symmetry of the classical N=4 theory must be also present in the on-shell effective action, and therefore we expect to find similar nonholomorphic terms for each of the scalars in the hypermultiplet. The N=2 path integral quantization formalism developed in projective superspace allows us to compute these hypermultiplet nonholomorphic terms directly in N=2 superspace. The corresponding gauge multiplet expression can be successfully compared with the result inferred from a N=1 calculation in the abelian subsector.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, includes 4 .eps figures, sign convention in path integral definition changed, sign of nonholomorphic potential change

Effective action of N = 4 super Yang-Mills: N = 2 superspace approach

Using the N = 2 off-shell formulation in harmonic superspace for N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory, we present a representation of the one-loop effective action which is free of so-called coinciding harmonic singularities and admits a straightforward evaluation of low-energy quantum corrections in the framework of an N = 2 superfield heat kernel technique. We illustrate our approach by computing the low-energy effective action on the Coulomb branch of SU(2) N = 4 super Yang-Mills. Our work provides the first derivation of the low-energy action of N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory directly in N = 2 superspace without any reduction to N = 1 superfields and for a generic background N = 2 Yang-Mills multiplet.Comment: 12 pages, latex, no figures, references adde