Geometry of Supersymmetric Gauge Theories: Including an Introduction to BRS Differential Algebras and Anomalies (Lecture Notes in Physics)

This monograph gives a detailed and pedagogical account of the geometry of rigid superspace and supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. While the core of the text is concerned with the classical theory, the quantization and anomaly problem are briefly discussed following a comprehensive introduction to BRS differential algebras and their field theoretical applications. Among the treated topics are invariant forms and vector fields on superspace, the matrix-representation of the super-Poincaré group, invariant connections on reductive homogeneous spaces and the supermetric approach. Various aspects of the subject are discussed for the first time in textbook and are consistently presented in a unified geometric formalism. Requiring essentially no background on supersymmetry and only a basic knowledge of differential geometry, this text will serve as a mathematically lucid introduction to supersymmetric gauge theories.