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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 Wheeler in an unrelated sense to describe the configuration space of general relativity; for example, this usage may be seen in his 1973 textbook ''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 extends it with anti-commuting fermionic degrees of freedom, taken to be anti-co ... [...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 over the complex numbers. 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 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" that the forms were define ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Minkowski Space
In mathematics and physics, super Minkowski space or Minkowski superspace is a supersymmetric extension of Minkowski space, sometimes used as the base manifold (or rather, supermanifold) for superfields. It is acted on by the super Poincaré algebra. Construction Abstract construction Abstractly, super Minkowski space is the space of (right) cosets within the Super Poincaré group of Lorentz group, that is, :\text \cong \frac. This is analogous to the way ordinary Minkowski spacetime can be identified with the (right) cosets within the Poincaré group of the Lorentz group, that is, :\text \cong \frac. The coset space is naturally affine, and the nilpotent, anti-commuting behavior of the fermionic directions arises naturally from the Clifford algebra associated with the Lorentz group. Direct sum construction For this section, the dimension of the Minkowski space under consideration is d = 4. Super Minkowski space can be concretely realized as the direct sum of Minkowsk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassmann Algebra
In mathematics, the exterior algebra, or Grassmann algebra, named after Hermann Grassmann, is an algebra that uses the exterior product or wedge product as its multiplication. In mathematics, the exterior product or wedge product of vectors is an algebraic construction used in geometry to study areas, volumes, and their higher-dimensional analogues. The exterior product of two vectors u and v, denoted by u \wedge v, is called a bivector and lives in a space called the ''exterior square'', a vector space that is distinct from the original space of vectors. The magnitude of u \wedge v can be interpreted as the area of the parallelogram with sides u and v, which in three dimensions can also be computed using the cross product of the two vectors. More generally, all parallel plane surfaces with the same orientation and area have the same bivector as a measure of their oriented area. Like the cross product, the exterior product is anticommutative, meanin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exterior Algebra
In mathematics, the exterior algebra, or Grassmann algebra, named after Hermann Grassmann, is an algebra that uses the exterior product or wedge product as its multiplication. In mathematics, the exterior product or wedge product of vectors is an algebraic construction used in geometry to study areas, volumes, and their higher-dimensional analogues. The exterior product of two vectors u and v, denoted by u \wedge v, is called a bivector and lives in a space called the ''exterior square'', a vector space that is distinct from the original space of vectors. The magnitude of u \wedge v can be interpreted as the area of the parallelogram with sides u and v, which in three dimensions can also be computed using the cross product of the two vectors. More generally, all parallel plane surfaces with the same orientation and area have the same bivector as a measure of their oriented area. Like the cross product, the exterior product is anticommutative, meanin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Siegel
Warren Siegel ( ) is a theoretical physicist specializing in supersymmetric quantum field theory and string theory. He is a professor at the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook University in New York. Background Siegel did his undergraduate and graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a PhD in 1977. Following his graduation he worked at several postdoctoral appointments at Harvard (7/77-7/79), Brandeis University (3/79-6/79), the Institute for Advanced Study (8/79-8/80), Caltech (8/80-8/82) and University of California, Berkeley (8/82-8/85). He served as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1985 to 1987 before becoming a professor at Stony Brook University in 1987. Research His early work involved the use of superspace to treat supersymmetric theories, including supergravity. Along with S.J. Gates, M.T. Grisaru, and M. Rocek he discovered methods for both deriving classical actions, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvester James Gates
Sylvester James Gates Jr. (born December 15, 1950), known as S. James Gates Jr. or Jim Gates, is an American theoretical physicist who works on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He currently holds the Clark Leadership Chair in Science with the physics department at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. He is also affiliated with the University Maryland's School of Public Policy. He served on former President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Biography Gates, the oldest of four siblings, was born in Tampa, Florida, the son of Sylvester James Gates Sr. a career U.S. Army man, and Charlie Engels Gates. His mother died when he was 11. When his father remarried, his stepmother, a teacher, brought books into the home and emphasized the importance of education. The family moved many times while Gates was growing up, but, as he was entering 11th grade, settled in Orlando, Florida, where James at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Archibald Wheeler
John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in explaining the basic principles behind nuclear fission. Together with Gregory Breit, Wheeler developed the concept of the Breit–Wheeler process. He is best known for popularizing the term "black hole," as to objects with gravitational collapse already predicted during the early 20th century, for inventing the terms " quantum foam", " neutron moderator", "wormhole" and "it from bit", and for hypothesizing the "one-electron universe". Stephen Hawking referred to him as the "hero of the black hole story". Wheeler earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University under the supervision of Karl Herzfeld, and studied under Breit and Bohr on a National Research Council fellowship. During 1939 he collaborated with Bohr to write a series of paper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affine Space
In mathematics, an affine space is a geometric structure that generalizes some of the properties of Euclidean spaces in such a way that these are independent of the concepts of distance and measure of angles, keeping only the properties related to parallelism and ratio of lengths for parallel line segments. In an affine space, there is no distinguished point that serves as an origin. Hence, no vector has a fixed origin and no vector can be uniquely associated to a point. In an affine space, there are instead '' displacement vectors'', also called ''translation'' vectors or simply ''translations'', between two points of the space. Thus it makes sense to subtract two points of the space, giving a translation vector, but it does not make sense to add two points of the space. Likewise, it makes sense to add a displacement vector to a point of an affine space, resulting in a new point translated from the starting point by that vector. Any vector space may be viewed as an affine s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthogonal Group
In mathematics, the orthogonal group in dimension , denoted , is the group of distance-preserving transformations of a Euclidean space of dimension that preserve a fixed point, where the group operation is given by composing transformations. The orthogonal group is sometimes called the general orthogonal group, by analogy with the general linear group. Equivalently, it is the group of orthogonal matrices, where the group operation is given by matrix multiplication (an orthogonal matrix is a real matrix whose inverse equals its transpose). The orthogonal group is an algebraic group and a Lie group. It is compact. The orthogonal group in dimension has two connected components. The one that contains the identity element is a normal subgroup, called the special orthogonal group, and denoted . It consists of all orthogonal matrices of determinant . This group is also called the rotation group, generalizing the fact that in dimensions 2 and 3, its elements are the usual r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Space
In mathematics and physics, a vector space (also called a linear space) is a set whose elements, often called '' vectors'', may be added together and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers called '' scalars''. Scalars are often real numbers, but can be complex numbers or, more generally, elements of any field. The operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication must satisfy certain requirements, called ''vector axioms''. The terms real vector space and complex vector space are often used to specify the nature of the scalars: real coordinate space or complex coordinate space. Vector spaces generalize Euclidean vectors, which allow modeling of physical quantities, such as forces and velocity, that have not only a magnitude, but also a direction. The concept of vector spaces is fundamental for linear algebra, together with the concept of matrix, which allows computing in vector spaces. This provides a concise and synthetic way for manipulating and studying systems of li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graded Vector Space
In mathematics, a graded vector space is a vector space that has the extra structure of a '' grading'' or a ''gradation'', which is a decomposition of the vector space into a direct sum of vector subspaces. Integer gradation Let \mathbb be the set of non-negative integers. An \mathbb-graded vector space, often called simply a graded vector space without the prefix \mathbb, is a vector space together with a decomposition into a direct sum of the form : V = \bigoplus_ V_n where each V_n is a vector space. For a given ''n'' the elements of V_n are then called homogeneous elements of degree ''n''. Graded vector spaces are common. For example the set of all polynomials in one or several variables forms a graded vector space, where the homogeneous elements of degree ''n'' are exactly the linear combinations of monomials of degree ''n''. General gradation The subspaces of a graded vector space need not be indexed by the set of natural numbers, and may be indexed by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
