Minkowski And Conformal Superspaces, The: The Classical And Quantum Descriptions

Book excerpt: This book is aimed at graduate students and researchers in physics and mathematics who seek to understand the basics of supersymmetry from a mathematical point of view. It provides a bridge between the physical and mathematical approaches to the superworld. The physicist who is devoted to learning the basics of supergeometry can find a friendly approach here, since only the concepts that are strictly necessary are introduced. On the other hand, the mathematician who wants to learn from physics will find that all the mathematical assumptions are firmly rooted in physical concepts. This may open up a channel of communication between the two communities working on different aspects of supersymmetry.Starting from special relativity and Minkowski space, the idea of conformal space and superspace is built step by step in a mathematically rigorous way, and always connecting with the ideas and notation used in physics. While the book is mainly devoted to these important physical examples of superspaces, it can also be used as an introduction to the field of supergeometry, where a reader can ease into the subject without being overwhelmed with the technical difficulties.