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Supermanifold
In physics and mathematics, supermanifolds are generalizations of the manifold concept based on ideas coming from supersymmetry. Several definitions are in use, some of which are described below. Informal definition An informal definition is commonly used in physics textbooks and introductory lectures. It defines a supermanifold as a manifold with both bosonic and fermionic coordinates. Locally, it is composed of coordinate charts that make it look like a "flat", "Euclidean" superspace. These local coordinates are often denoted by :(x,\theta,\bar) where ''x'' is the ( real-number-valued) spacetime coordinate, and \theta\, and \bar are Grassmann-valued spatial "directions". The physical interpretation of the Grassmann-valued coordinates are the subject of debate; explicit experimental searches for supersymmetry have not yielded any positive results. However, the use of Grassmann variables allow for the tremendous simplification of a number of important mathematical results. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassmann Number
In mathematical physics, a Grassmann number, named after Hermann Grassmann (also called an anticommuting number or supernumber), is an element of the exterior algebra of a complex vector space. The special case of a 1-dimensional algebra is known as a dual number. Grassmann numbers saw an early use in physics to express a Path integral formulation, path integral representation for fermionic fields, although they are now widely used as a foundation for superspace, on which supersymmetry is constructed. Informal discussion Grassmann numbers are generated by anti-commuting elements or objects. The idea of anti-commuting objects arises in multiple areas of mathematics: they are typically seen in differential geometry, where the differential forms are anti-commuting. Differential forms are normally defined in terms of derivatives on a manifold; however, one can contemplate the situation where one "forgets" or "ignores" the existence of any underlying manifold, and "forgets" or "ignores" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superspace
Superspace is the coordinate space of a theory exhibiting supersymmetry. In such a formulation, along with ordinary space dimensions ''x'', ''y'', ''z'', ..., there are also "anticommuting" dimensions whose coordinates are labeled in Grassmann numbers rather than real numbers. The ordinary space dimensions correspond to bosonic degrees of freedom, the anticommuting dimensions to fermionic degrees of freedom. The word "superspace" was first used by John Archibald Wheeler, John Wheeler in an unrelated sense to describe the Configuration space (physics), configuration space of general relativity; for example, this usage may be seen in his 1973 textbook ''Gravitation (book), Gravitation''. Informal discussion There are several similar, but not equivalent, definitions of superspace that have been used, and continue to be used in the mathematical and physics literature. One such usage is as a synonym for super Minkowski space. In this case, one takes ordinary Minkowski space, and extend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermathematics
Supermathematics is the branch of mathematical physics which applies the mathematics of Lie superalgebras to the behaviour of bosons and fermions. The driving force in its formation in the 1960s and 1970s was Felix Berezin. Objects of study include superalgebras (such as super Minkowski space and super-Poincaré algebra), superschemes, supermetrics/supersymmetry, supermanifolds, supergeometry, and supergravity, namely in the context of superstring theory. References "The importance of Lie algebras" Professor Isaiah Kantor, Lund University External links * Felix Berezin, The Life and Death of the Mastermind of Supermathematics', edited by Mikhail Shifman Mikhail "Misha" Arkadyevich Shifman (; born 4 April 1949) is a theoretical physicist (high energy physics), formerly at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, Ida Cohen Fine Professor of Theoretical Physics, William I. ..., World Scientific, Singapore, 2007, Mathematical physics Supersymmetry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice Rogers
Frances Alice Rogers is a British mathematician and mathematical physicist. She is an emeritus professor of mathematics at King's College London. Research Rogers' research concerns mathematical physics and more particularly supermanifolds, generalizations of the manifold concept based on ideas coming from supersymmetry. She is the author of the book ''Supermanifolds: Theory and Applications'' (World Scientific, 2007). Service Rogers has been a member of the British government's Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education,. is the education secretary of the London Mathematical Society (LMS), and represents the LMS on the Joint Mathematical Council of the UK. Education Rogers studied mathematics in New Hall, Cambridge, in the 1960s. Her mother had also studied mathematics at Cambridge in the 1930s and later became a wartime code-breaker at Bletchley Park. Rogers earned her Ph.D. in 1981 from Imperial College London. Recognition In 2016, she was appointed as an Officer of the Or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lie Group
In mathematics, a Lie group (pronounced ) is a group (mathematics), group that is also a differentiable manifold, such that group multiplication and taking inverses are both differentiable. A manifold is a space that locally resembles Euclidean space, whereas groups define the abstract concept of a binary operation along with the additional properties it must have to be thought of as a "transformation" in the abstract sense, for instance multiplication and the taking of inverses (to allow division), or equivalently, the concept of addition and subtraction. Combining these two ideas, one obtains a continuous group where multiplying points and their inverses is continuous. If the multiplication and taking of inverses are smoothness, smooth (differentiable) as well, one obtains a Lie group. Lie groups provide a natural model for the concept of continuous symmetry, a celebrated example of which is the circle group. Rotating a circle is an example of a continuous symmetry. For an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Differential Geometry
Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, linear algebra and multilinear algebra. The field has its origins in the study of spherical geometry as far back as classical antiquity, antiquity. It also relates to astronomy, the geodesy of the Earth, and later the study of hyperbolic geometry by Nikolai Lobachevsky, Lobachevsky. The simplest examples of smooth spaces are the Differential geometry of curves, plane and space curves and Differential geometry of surfaces, surfaces in the three-dimensional Euclidean space, and the study of these shapes formed the basis for development of modern differential geometry during the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the late 19th century, differential geometry has grown into a field concerned more generally with geometric structures on differentiable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noncommutative Geometry
Noncommutative geometry (NCG) is a branch of mathematics concerned with a geometric approach to noncommutative algebras, and with the construction of ''spaces'' that are locally presented by noncommutative algebras of functions, possibly in some generalized sense. A noncommutative algebra is an associative algebra in which the multiplication is not commutative, that is, for which xy does not always equal yx; or more generally an algebraic structure in which one of the principal binary operations is not commutative; one also allows additional structures, e.g. topology or norm, to be possibly carried by the noncommutative algebra of functions. An approach giving deep insight about noncommutative spaces is through operator algebras, that is, algebras of bounded linear operators on a Hilbert space. Perhaps one of the typical examples of a noncommutative space is the " noncommutative torus", which played a key role in the early development of this field in 1980s and lead to noncomm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topological Space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a Geometry, geometrical space in which Closeness (mathematics), closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric Distance (mathematics), distance. More specifically, a topological space is a Set (mathematics), set whose elements are called Point (geometry), points, along with an additional structure called a topology, which can be defined as a set of Neighbourhood (mathematics), neighbourhoods for each point that satisfy some Axiom#Non-logical axioms, axioms formalizing the concept of closeness. There are several equivalent definitions of a topology, the most commonly used of which is the definition through open sets, which is easier than the others to manipulate. A topological space is the most general type of a space (mathematics), mathematical space that allows for the definition of Limit (mathematics), limits, Continuous function (topology), continuity, and Connected space, connectedness. Common types ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparison Of Topologies
In topology and related areas of mathematics, the set of all possible topologies on a given set forms a partially ordered set. This order relation can be used for comparison of the topologies. Definition A topology on a set may be defined as the collection of subsets which are considered to be "open". (An alternative definition is that it is the collection of subsets which are considered "closed". These two ways of defining the topology are essentially equivalent because the complement of an open set is closed and vice versa. In the following, it doesn't matter which definition is used.) For definiteness the reader should think of a topology as the family of open sets of a topological space, since that is the standard meaning of the word "topology". Let ''τ''1 and ''τ''2 be two topologies on a set ''X'' such that ''τ''1 is contained in ''τ''2: :\tau_1 \subseteq \tau_2. That is, every element of ''τ''1 is also an element of ''τ''2. Then the topology ''τ''1 is said to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algebraic Geometry
Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; the modern approach generalizes this in a few different aspects. The fundamental objects of study in algebraic geometry are algebraic variety, algebraic varieties, which are geometric manifestations of solution set, solutions of systems of polynomial equations. Examples of the most studied classes of algebraic varieties are line (geometry), lines, circles, parabolas, ellipses, hyperbolas, cubic curves like elliptic curves, and quartic curves like lemniscate of Bernoulli, lemniscates and Cassini ovals. These are plane algebraic curves. A point of the plane lies on an algebraic curve if its coordinates satisfy a given polynomial equation. Basic questions involve the study of points of special interest like singular point of a curve, singular p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
