Objective
The main objective of the Project is to explore the quantum and symmetry properties of supersymmetric gauge theories, sigma models, integrable models and theories of higher - dimensional extended objects, to study the relations between these theories, including various dualities, and to develop universal methods for quantising them and analysing their non-perturbative structure. The powerful approaches which allow to keep manifest all the underlying symmetries will be further advanced and used in the process of fulfilling the Project:
harmonic superspace approach, nonlinear realizations techniques, BRST-BFV quantization methods. Some of these approaches were invented and\or largely contributed to by the members of the present collaboration.
The ultimate aim is to achieve a deeper understanding of this important circle of phenomena as key elements of the future Theory of all fundamental forces.
Basic research activities will be focused on the following closely related directions:
constructing and studying off-shell quantum effective actions of gauge and supergravity theories with extended supersymmetry in the manifestly supersymmetric harmonic superspace approach;
analyzing quantum implications of the effects of spontaneous breakdown of internal symmetries and supersymmetry in these theories;
studying the non-perturbative structure of these theories by exploiting the restrictions imposed by superconformal invariance and harmonic and Grassmann analyticities;
investigating the interrelations and dualities between different super p-branes in the geometrical approach based on the theory of embeddings of surfaces and exploring new integrable systems which arise in this approach; further analyzing gauge and supergauge theories with manifest duality symmetry;
developing universal methods of quantization of gauge and string theories generalizing Sp(2) and triplectic approaches and understanding the geometry underlying these methods;
studying the dynamics of gauge and massive theories of higher-spin fields.
The main results of the Project are expected to include: the construction and analysis of the effective actions for N=2 and N=3 SYM theories as well as that of N=2 supergravity in the harmonic superspace formalism;
the development of the superfield formulation of N=2 supersymmetric theories in the presence of partial spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry;
the analysis of the structure of n-point superfield functions of extended supersymmetric gauge theories; the construction of new integrable hierarchies relevant to the geometric description of superstrings and higher p-branes;
the formulation of new duality symmetric actions for gauge theories and supermembrane theories, and the development of new approaches to the quantization and non-perturbative analysis of this wide range of theories.
Topic(s)
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WC2R 2LS LONDON
United Kingdom