An uncancelled gauge anomaly would make the quantum effective action vary along a gauge orbit. The resulting failure of the Ward-Takahashi identities and BRST symmetry prevents unphysical polarizations from decoupling, so the theory loses unitarity or renormalizability and cannot define a consistent gauge theory. An uncancelled mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly would similarly conflict with simultaneous gauge-current and stress-energy conservation. A global anomaly such as the Witten SU(2) anomaly would make the fermion determinant change sign under a large gauge transformation, so even the path integral would be ill defined.
Normalize the cubic anomaly coefficient of the fundamental to . The two-index antisymmetric representation has anomaly coefficient , while an antifundamental contributes . Cancellation of the gauge anomaly requires
A gauge anomaly breaks a redundancy needed to remove unphysical states and makes a quantum gauge theory inconsistent unless it cancels. A chiral anomaly is instead the quantum violation of a classical global axial current; the theory remains consistent, but processes such as and instanton-induced charge violation become possible. A 't Hooft anomaly is an obstruction to gauging a global symmetry. It is compatible with a consistent theory but is invariant under renormalization-group flow, so any infrared phase must reproduce it through massless fields, spontaneous symmetry breaking, or topological degrees of freedom.
A gauge anomaly breaks a redundancy required to remove unphysical polarizations. It violates the Ward identities and makes the quantum gauge theory inconsistent, so all gauge anomalies must cancel. A chiral anomaly, or Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly, instead breaks a classically conserved global axial symmetry; it is physically allowed and explains effects such as anomalous pseudoscalar decays and instanton-induced charge violation. A 't Hooft anomaly is an obstruction to gauging a global symmetry. It is invariant under renormalization-group flow, so 't Hooft anomaly matching constrains the infrared theory to reproduce it through massless fields, symmetry breaking, or a topological sector.
Only the Weyl fermions in the charged chiral multiplets contribute to the Abelian triangle gauge anomaly. Their cubic coefficient is
and the mixed gauge-gravitational coefficient is . Diagrammatically, the oppositely charged and fermion triangles have equal magnitudes and opposite signs. The neutral gaugino also contributes nothing, so the theory is anomaly free.
Gauge invariance and renormalizability permit the most general superpotential
After setting the linear and quadratic parameters to zero, the supersymmetric non-renormalization theorem ensures that perturbative quantum corrections do not regenerate them in the Wilsonian superpotential.
Write the scalar components as . For generic nonzero , the F-term scalar potential and D-term scalar potential, including a Fayet–Iliopoulos term, are
Every term is nonnegative. The F-flat equations force and . If , the vacuum
also makes ; if , interchange and and use . Thus for nonzero the charged vacuum expectation value spontaneously breaks the gauged through the Higgs mechanism, but means supersymmetry remains unbroken. For , the origin preserves both the gauge symmetry and supersymmetry.
A gauge anomaly makes gauge redundancy inconsistent and must cancel. A chiral anomaly is the quantum nonconservation of a classically conserved axial current and may be a physical effect. A 't Hooft anomaly is an obstruction to gauging a global symmetry; it is preserved by renormalization-group flow and must be reproduced by the infrared theory, through massless degrees of freedom, symmetry breaking, or topological order.
In the normalization supplied, a left-handed Weyl fermion in the two-index antisymmetric representation has cubic gauge-anomaly coefficient , while an antifundamental has coefficient . Cancellation of the gauge anomaly requires
so
A gauge anomaly makes the gauge symmetry inconsistent and must cancel. An Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly breaks a classical global chiral symmetry quantum mechanically but does not by itself invalidate the gauge theory. A 't Hooft anomaly is an obstruction to gauging a global symmetry; it remains invariant along renormalization-group flow and constrains the infrared spectrum or symmetry-breaking pattern.
The three Weyl components form one fundamental representation of the global , so coupling to background gauge fields reveals a nonzero 't Hooft anomaly. This does not destroy the global symmetry in flat space or make the theory inconsistent; it constrains any infrared description through 't Hooft anomaly matching. If were instead intended as a dynamical gauge symmetry, the same uncancelled gauge anomaly would make the model inconsistent and additional chiral matter would be required. Ordinary quantum corrections cannot generate the forbidden superpotential, and the non-renormalization theorem protects its absence.
For one charged chiral superfield, canonical kinetic terms, no nonconstant gauge-invariant superpotential, and , the sign of selects the vacuum. If , the minimum has , positive vacuum energy, unbroken internal gauge symmetry and a gaugino Goldstino; the scalar squared mass is while its chiral fermion is massless. If , a scalar condensate cancels the auxiliary field, preserving supersymmetry while Higgsing the gauge group. These are classical statements; a consistent quantum charged spectrum must cancel its gauge anomalies.