SU(5)-invariant decomposition of ten-dimensional Yang-Mills supersymmetry

The N=1,d=10 superYang-Mills action is constructed in a twisted form, using SU(5)-invariant decomposition of spinors in 10 dimensions. The action and its off-shell closed twisted scalar supersymmetry operator Q derive from a Chern-Simons term. The action can be decomposed as the sum of a term in the cohomology of Q and of a term that is Q-exact. The first term is a fermionic Chern-Simons term for a twisted component of the Majorana-Weyl gluino and it is related to the second one by a twisted vector supersymmetry with 5 parameters. The cohomology of Q and some topological observables are defined from descent equations. In this SU(5)<SO(10)$ invariant decomposition, the N=1, d=10 theory is determined by only 6 supersymmetry generators, as in the twisted N=4, d=4 theory. There is a superspace with 6 twisted fermionic directions, with solvable constraints.Comment: 10 page

N=4 Yang--Mills theory as a complexification of the N=2 theory

A complexification of the twisted $\N=2$ theory allows one to determine the N=4 Yang--Mills theory in its third twist formulation. The imaginary part of the gauge symmetry is used to eliminate two scalars fields and create gauge covariant longitudinal components for the imaginary part of the gauge field. The latter becomes the vector field of the thirdly twisted $\N=4$ theory. Eventually, one gets a one to one correspondence between the fields of both theories. Analogous complexifications can be done for topological 2d-gravity and topological sigma models

Going down from a 3-form in 16 dimensions

Group theory indicates the existence of a $SO(8) X SO(7) \subset SO(16)$ invariant self-duality equation for a 3-form in 16 dimensions. It is a signal for interesting topological field theories, especially on 8-dimensional manifolds with holonomy group smaller than or equal to Spin(7), with a gauge symmetry that is SO(8) or SO(7). Dimensional reduction also provides new supersymmetric theories in 4 and lower dimensions, as well as a model with gravitational interactions in 8 dimensions, which relies on the octonionic gravitational self-duality equation.Comment: 14 page

On Forms with Non-Abelian Charges and Their Dualities

We describe forms with non-Abelian charges. We avoid the use of theories with flat curvatures by working in the context of topological field theory. We obtain TQFTs for a form and its dual. We leave open the question of getting gauges in which the form, or its dual, can be gauged away, in such way that the model has two dual formulations. We give the example of charged two-forms in six dimensions.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac fil

Transmutation of Pure 2-D Supergravity Into Topological 2-D Gravity and Other Conformal Theories

We consider the BRST and superconformal properties of the ghost action of 2-D supergravity. Using the background spin structure on the worldsheet, we show that this action can be transformed by canonical field transformations to reach other conformal models such as the 2-D topological gravity or the chiral models for which the gauge variation of the action reproduces the left or right conformal anomaly. Our method consists in using the gravitino and its ghost as fundamental blocks to build fields with different conformal weights and statistics. This indicates in particular that the twisting of a conformal model into another one can be classically interpreted as a change of "field representation" of the superconformal symmetry.Comment: 20 pages, PAR-LPTHE 92-2

Supergravity and the Knitting of the Kalb--Ramond Two-Form in Eight-Dimensional Topological Gravity

Topological euclidean gravity is built in eight dimensions for manifolds with $Spin(7) \subset SO(8)$ holonomy. In a previous work, we considered the construction of an eight-dimensional topological theory describing the graviton and one graviphoton. Here we solve the question of determining a topological model for the combined system of a metric and a Kalb--Ramond two-form gauge field. We then recover the complete $N=1, D=8$ supergravity theory in a twisted form. We observe that the generalized self-duality conditions of our model correspond to the octonionic string equations.Comment: 17 page

Supersymmetry with a Ghost Time

The progress brought to the study of chiral fermions and gauge theories by quantization methods with a bulk time suggests their usefulness in supersymmetric theories. Using superspace methods, we show how an explicitly supersymmetric version of such quantization methods may be given.Comment: 6 page

Ten-dimensional super-Yang-Mills with nine off-shell supersymmetries

After adding 7 auxiliary scalars to the d=10 super-Yang-Mills action, 9 of the 16 supersymmetries close off-shell. In this paper, these 9 supersymmetry generators are related by dimensional reduction to scalar and vector topological symmetry in $\N$=2 d=8 twisted super-Yang-Mills. Furthermore, a gauge-invariant superspace action is constructed for d=10 super-Yang-Mills where the superfields depend on 9 anticommuting theta variables.Comment: 15 page

Worldsheets with Extended Supersymmetry

We determine the equations which govern the gauge symmetries of worldsheets with local supersymmetry of arbitrary rank $(N,N')$, and their possible anomalies. Both classical and ghost conformally invariant multiplets of the left or right sector are assembled into the components of a single $O(N)$-superfield. The component with ghost number zero of this superfield is the $N$-supersymmetric generalization of the Beltrami differential. In a Lagrangian approach, and after gauge-fixing, it becomes the super-moduli of Riemann surfaces coupled to local supersymmetry of rank $N$. It is also the source of all linear superconformal currents derived from ordinary operator product techniques. The interconnection between BRST invariant actions with different values of $N\geq 3$, and their possible link to topological 2D-gravity coupled to topological sigma models, are shown by straightforward algebraic considerations.Comment: 15 pages, Latex. A section on the connection to topological action is adde

Reconstruction of N=1 supersymmetry from topological symmetry

The scalar and vector topological Yang-Mills symmetries on Calabi-Yau manifolds geometrically define consistent sectors of Yang-Mills D=4,6 N=1 supersymmetry, which fully determine the supersymmetric actions up to twist. For a CY_2 manifold, both N=1,D=4 Wess and Zumino and superYang-Mills theory can be reconstructed in this way. A superpotential can be introduced for the matter sector, as well as the Fayet-Iliopoulos mechanism. For a CY_3 manifold, the N=1, D=6 Yang-Mills theory is also obtained, in a twisted form. Putting these results together with those already known for the D=4,8 N=2 cases, we conclude that all Yang--Mills supersymmetries with 4, 8 and 16 generators are determined from topological symmetry on special manifolds.Comment: 13 page