Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 55 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a chiral superfield of mass dimension one, a renormalizable quantum field theory has a quadratic Kähler potential and a superpotential of degree at most three. Before canonical normalization one may writewith real , andThe purely holomorphic terms in , their conjugates and its constant have vanishing full superspace integration; they are Kähler transformations of the global theory. Rescaling the chiral superfield sets , so the physically general kinetic choice is up to these terms. The constant superpotential in global supersymmetry also has no component effect. The dimensions of are respectively two, one and zero.
To eliminate the linear term, translate the complex chiral superfield as . The shifted linear coefficient isIf , this quadratic has a root over the complex numbers; if but , take . The resulting linear term vanishes and the new quadratic coefficient is . The canonical Kähler potential changes only by holomorphic, antiholomorphic and constant terms, which do not change the global kinetic action. This is the superpotential critical-point shift.
The claim needs an exception: if but , the superpotential is purely linear and no invertible translation can remove it. More generally an invertible regular field redefinition cannot turn a nowhere-zero derivative into a critical point. The theory with has , a constant positive scalar potential , and flat F-term breaking with a linear superpotential. Below, and denote the quadratic/cubic coefficients after the valid shift, as intended by the question.
Expand in chiral coordinates. The highest component of is , while the full-superspace kinetic term contains . Thus the auxiliary field part of the component Lagrangian isVarying and independently givesSubstitution gives , and hence the F-term scalar potentialIt is nonnegative and vanishes at , and also at when . These are supersymmetric vacua, since the auxiliary field vanishes. Thus the quadratic/cubic model does not spontaneously break supersymmetry. If but , zero is the sole critical point; if both vanish, every is a zero-energy vacuum. Nonzero give the usual two vacua, coinciding when .
For the loop argument, promote the coefficients to background chiral spurions. One convenient pair of independent formal charge assignments isBoth symmetries act nontrivially on all three of ; the second is an R-symmetry. The superspace integration measure has R-charge , so both tree monomials give invariant actions. These are spurionic selection rules, not necessarily actual symmetries after fixing numerical couplings. The R-row is an ordinary-charge redefinition of the usual Wess–Zumino spurion charge assignment.
A local Wilsonian superpotential is a holomorphic function of the chiral fields and chiral spurions. The ratio is neutral under both charge assignments and has dimension zero, whereas has exactly the charges and dimension of . The general symmetry-allowed form, on a patch with and up to a physically irrelevant global constant, is thereforewith holomorphic where that description is regular. Symmetry by itself does not determine .
For a regular perturbative local Wilsonian effective action retaining the same elementary field and an infrared cutoff, expand . Its term of order is . Negative are singular in , while are singular in ; these are excluded by perturbative holomorphic regularity at the free-coupling limits. Thus only the quadratic and cubic terms survive. Their regular holomorphic coefficients cannot acquire coupling-dependent invariant corrections. At the quadratic theory is Gaussian, fixing exactly. A contribution linear in to the cubic vertex has only one cubic interaction: three external lines exhaust that vertex, leaving no contraction to form a loop. Thus as well in the present normalization. This supplies the holomorphy argument for superpotential non-renormalization rather than concluding non-renormalization from symmetry alone.
The Kähler potential can still undergo wave-function renormalization. If its quadratic coefficient becomes , canonical normalization gives and , so physical masses and interactions can run despite superpotential non-renormalization. More generally a positive nonsingular effective Kähler metric replaces by and does not remove its zero-energy critical points. Infrared-singular nonlocal one-particle-irreducible terms and eliminating the entire massive field are outside this Wilsonian statement.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 55 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Set , the domain in which the Kähler potential is defined, and use Planck units. The nonzero entries of the Kähler metric and its inverse areThe Kähler covariant derivatives of a superpotential areDenote and . The supergravity F-term potential isHere the contribution is exactly , cancelling the negative term. This is the no-scale supergravity identity, givingThe cancellation is important: replacing the covariant derivatives by ordinary derivatives would miss both the matter dependence and the possibility of zero vacuum energy with supersymmetry breaking.
In the convention , the chiral supergravity auxiliary fields areAn overall auxiliary phase or sign convention does not change their vanishing conditions. These are upper-index fields, including the inverse Kähler metric, rather than just the covariant derivatives.
Since is nonnegative and vanishes at , its minimum energy isThere are additional minima that should not be discarded by examining only real . For , the condition becomesIf , the magnitude equationhas exactly one positive root: its left side is strictly increasing from zero to infinity. There are three phases, differing by , determined by . Thus for nonzero the finite zero-energy matter vacua consist of and these three nonzero phase-related values, each with arbitrary in the allowed half-plane. At a nonzero matter vacuum,At , .
For , every such minimum has but , so supersymmetry is spontaneously broken despite zero vacuum energy. Indeed no finite point anywhere is fully supersymmetric: would force , after which forces and then . This proves breaking for the specified nonzero-constant case without relying just on the positivity of the potential.
For the allowed exceptional value (B=0), the requested breaking statement is false. Then vanishes only at , where . Every finite allowed gives an unbroken supersymmetric vacuum with zero energy. This is an explicit counterexample to unqualified breaking for an arbitrary complex .
Both real components of are flat directions of a scalar potential along every minimum: the imaginary component never appears in , and when the entire dependence is multiplied by zero. The matter vacua are isolated in the plane; there is no continuous matter vacuum direction. At the potential begins quartically in , so zero quadratic mass is not a flat vacuum manifold. Away from , the real direction instead has and a decompactification-type runaway towards zero as , not a further finite positive-energy minimum.
The gravitino mass from a superpotential isAt the branch it is ; at each nonzero branch it is . Its value is not fixed because the modulus is flat. For it vanishes at the supersymmetric minimum. For nonzero , the super-Higgs mechanism absorbs the Goldstino associated with into the massive gravitino. The zero-energy relation is explicitly satisfied:which balances the auxiliary contribution against the gravitational negative term.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 22 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , and use the complex orientation. Write for the real Riemannian metric underlying the Hermitian metric. Its fundamental form of a Hermitian manifold iswhere in this convention. It is real and of type , since . Choose an adapted real orthonormal frame and its dual coframe . Then , giving the Riemannian volume form
We use the complex-linear Hodge star operator, the extension of the real metric star characterized on equal-degree forms byIt maps -forms to -forms and satisfies . It is distinct from the conjugate-linear map . In the adapted coframe the star of is the wedge product of all the other two-dimensional factors, with positive sign. Summing proves the Hodge star of the fundamental Hermitian form formulaThis computation uses no closedness assumption on .
Use the integrated Hermitian inner product . The formal adjoints and are defined by and ; compact manifolds here have no boundary. The Hodge Laplacian and Dolbeault Laplacian areThe Dolbeault Hodge decomposition on a compact Hermitian manifold states thatis an orthogonal direct sum, with finite-dimensional . Each Dolbeault cohomology classhas a unique representative in . A form is harmonic exactly when both and vanish, since its Laplacian inner product is the sum of their squared norms.
Now let be the Hermitian Lefschetz operator and let be its pointwise adjoint. For of total degree and of degree , the defining inner products giveThe wedge pairing is nondegenerate, so . Apply another star to the degree- form and use that the star and commute with conjugation. This yieldsFor degrees below two both sides vanish. The argument also identifies its bidegree as and does not require the Kähler condition.
Assume now that , so the metric is a Kähler metric. Start with the supplied Kähler identities relation . Since is real, conjugation gives , henceThe commutators are ordinary commutators because has even degree. Using we obtain, by direct expansion,Conjugation gives as well. Expanding the two unmixed Laplacians and using gives the same operator:Finally expand and ; the mixed terms just proved zero disappear. This derives the Kähler Laplacian identity
The Dolbeault Laplacian preserves bidegree. Thus the complex -harmonic forms of total degree split into their harmonic parts. The allowed real Hodge theorem, followed by complexification, givesThe real operator commutes with conjugation, which exchanges and . Therefore . For odd , no summand has , so they pair off in equal dimensions. This proves that all odd Betti numbers are even.
For , the Kähler form power is closed. If it were exact, say , thenby Stokes theorem. But has strictly positive integral on the nonempty compact manifold. Hence the powers of a compact Kähler form have nonzero cohomology classes, and
For an example take the Hopf surfaceThe dilation action is free and properly discontinuous: on a compact subset the radii are bounded above and away from zero, so only finitely many dilations can meet it. It is holomorphic, giving a complex manifold quotient; the annulus covers the quotient, proving compactness. The mapis a diffeomorphism . The Künneth theorem gives . This violates the necessary odd-degree parity, so this compact complex surface admits no Kähler metric.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 57 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write , , , , , and . Assume and, initially, . The supergravity F-term potential isThe canonical Kähler potential gives the identity Kähler metric. The three Kähler covariant derivatives of a superpotential areSubstituting, including the negative term rather than treating the potential as just a sum of squares, gives the exact answerHere explains the first coefficient. It is strictly positive for real , since . Thus this model's scalar potential is nonnegative everywhere.
In the stated limit , the exponential can be replaced by . The other displayed terms retain the effects of the Kähler covariant derivatives of a superpotential. Small waterfall fields alone do not justify discarding in those derivatives, or expanding in . If also and , the leading result reduces to the global F-term scalar potentialNo gauge sector or gauge coupling is supplied, so there is no specified D-term contribution to add.
The supersymmetric vacuum manifold of a bilinear hybrid superpotential isIndeed and all three Kähler covariant derivatives of a superpotential vanish there, so all supergravity auxiliary fields vanish and supersymmetry is unbroken. The nonnegative scalar potential makes this a global minimum. Conversely zero potential requires , and then ; for this forces . With just the supplied fields this is a complex vacuum manifold before imposing any gauge quotient: the product is fixed but the ratio of and is not. More precisely, it is an F-flat vacuum manifold whether or not a gauge symmetry is specified. If one additionally gauges opposite charges, D-flatness typically imposes , giving up to phases and gauge equivalence; that is an extra assumption, not a consequence of and alone.
The other familiar branch of F-term hybrid inflation has . Its nonzero derivative establishes supersymmetry breaking, and its exact scalar potential isThe canonical-Kähler correction to an F-term hybrid valley begins asIn particular the inflaton quadratic mass cancels at this order; the first lift of the global flat valley is quartic in .
To identify when this branch is a transverse minimum, rephase the waterfall fields so that is real positive. To quadratic order in , the global scalar potential isThe normalized combinations diagonalize this quadratic form, withThus gives a valley of transverse minima, while below the threshold the negative eigenvalue produces the waterfall instability in F-term hybrid inflation.
The exact supergravity correction to this stability test is also available without taking small. Put . Expansion of the exact supergravity F-term potential about gives equal diagonal coefficients and off-diagonal magnitude . HenceFor the usual sub-Planckian symmetry-breaking scale , the lower eigenvalue is . It is positive for the familiar sub-Planckian valley , and changes sign near .
The printed assertion of two full minima requires qualification. The broken branch is a transverse inflationary valley, not generally a second stationary minimum of the complete supergravity potential. In factIts only stationary point in is the origin. For that point has a negative waterfall eigenvalue . A direct counterexample is the path , with real small , after rephasing :The negative quadratic coefficient proves it is not a minimum. No loop corrections or additional stabilizing interactions were specified that could create the requested second stationary vacuum. The mathematically supported interpretation is a SUSY-breaking transverse valley and a zero-energy supersymmetric vacuum minimum manifold. The limit on alone does not fix the parameter range ; the familiar waterfall conclusion uses the sub-Planckian range just stated.
In the corresponding global theory the exponential prefactor, Kähler corrections to and universal term are absent. Its valley has exactly constant tree-level energy for all , whereas canonical supergravity lifts it by the quartic correction above. The supersymmetric vacuum , and its zero energy persist in both descriptions. If , the origin and the axis instead have vanishing F-terms; the broken-valley interpretation does not apply.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 57 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work in the supplied Planck units and write . The nonzero components of the Kähler metric and its inverse areThe Kähler covariant derivatives of a superpotential areIn the supergravity F-term potential, cancels its negative universal term. This is the no-scale supergravity identity. The exact answer is thereforeIn particular is a global minimum for every in the domain, with zero vacuum energy.
Use the standard convention for a supergravity auxiliary field, . In this conventionAt the minimum these becomeThus supersymmetry breaking occurs if , despite the vanishing vacuum energy. Indeed is precisely canceled by the negative gravitino contribution. For the asserted breaking does not occur: both supergravity auxiliary fields vanish at , so this vacuum is supersymmetric.
For completeness, the full set of finite zero-energy minima includes additional branches. For , the condition reduces, after factoring , toFor every there is a unique positive solution of , since the left side increases strictly from zero to infinity. There are three associated phases,These also give , and on each branch . Consequently but , so these are also supersymmetry breaking no-scale vacua with a cubic matter superpotential. A supersymmetric finite vacuum would require , hence , and then ; this is possible only at with .
The scalar potential is independent of everywhere. On every zero-energy vacuum branch it is also independent of , so both real components of are flat directions of a scalar potential at the vacuum. Away from , the real direction is not flat: , giving a runaway towards rather than a finite positive-energy stationary point. The zero-energy branches have no continuous flat direction of a scalar potential in ; their allowed values are isolated. This is why the vacuum does not select a unique numerical gravitino mass: the modulus is unfixed.
The gravitino mass from a superpotential is . On the conventional branch,On a nonzero- branch it is insteadWhen , the only finite zero-energy matter solution is and , with unbroken supersymmetry. These results exhibit the distinction between vanishing vacuum energy and vanishing supersymmetry breaking auxiliary fields in a no-scale supergravity model.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 56 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the scalar components of the three chiral superfields, and set , , and . We assume the physical sign and a nonzero coupling . The coefficient below is exactly the coefficient in the supplied D-term scalar potential; it should not be silently replaced by a differently normalized squared gauge coupling. The canonical Kähler potential has identity Kähler metric, and the three Kähler covariant derivatives of a superpotential areSubstitution in the supergravity F-term potential givesIn particular, the subtraction cancels only half of the six terms contributed by the three squares. The full scalar potential isIts nonnegativity follows term by term from and . This is a special property of this cubic superpotential, not of a general supergravity F-term potential.
The D-term vacuum branches of a cubic superpotential must be described as branches: there are not two isolated field-space minima. First suppose . Vanishing of requires , and vanishing of the D-term scalar potential requires . Together these conditions give the vacuum expectation valuesThe phase of lies on a gauge orbit, and one may choose it positive and real. At this global minimum, all and the real auxiliary field of the vector multiplet vanish. It is a supersymmetric vacuum, even though the internal gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken. For , interchange and : the nonzero vacuum expectation value has magnitude . For , the supersymmetric vacuum is the entire family , with arbitrary.
The other branch has and arbitrary . Here but the real auxiliary field is nonzero for , andThus this branch has pure D-term supersymmetry breaking and a flat direction of a scalar potential in the neutral scalar. It is not stable at every neutral-field value. At a fixed , expansion in the charged scalars yieldsHence the two charged squared masses and the stability condition areAbove this threshold, both charged directions have positive mass squared. Continuity makes them uniformly positive in a sufficiently small neighborhood of the chosen neutral-field value, so the stationary branch is a genuine, non-strict local minimum valley. Its neutral direction stays flat. Below the threshold, a charged mass squared is negative and the branch is a saddle point. At equality it is a boundary of the stable valley, not a local minimum in the full field space: changing slightly downward and switching on the unstable charged field lowers . For example, for , put , , . Since has , one finds .
There are no further local-minimum branches under these generic assumptions. If , the expression for is strictly increasing in , so a stationary configuration with a charged condensate must have . At , an interior critical point with is impossible, becauseOn the boundary , the relevant scalar potential is ; on it is . Their nonnegative-domain minima give exactly the supersymmetric vacuum described above, or the origin of the charged-field branch. Thus, for nonzero , the two types are the zero-energy supersymmetric gauge orbit and the positive-energy D-breaking minimum valley above the threshold. If , the two types coalesce into the flat supersymmetric vacuum; the literal two-minimum assertion needs this parameter qualification.
In the global supersymmetry limit , the F-term scalar potential becomes and the D-term scalar potential retains its form. The same two types of branches occur, with the threshold . Supergravity instead introduces the exponential and additional positive terms. The goldstino of global supersymmetry breaking is a physical fermion; in local supersymmetry it participates in the super-Higgs mechanism. A positive vacuum energy also gravitates in supergravity. In particular, the positive-energy branch here has and hence vanishing gravitino mass from a superpotential; it is not the tuned zero-energy broken vacuum of Question 3.
There is a further gauge-consistency qualification. In conventional two-derivative matter-coupled supergravity, a constant Fayet–Iliopoulos term gauges an R-symmetry and requires a corresponding nontrivial transformation of the superpotential. The apparent charges make the supplied cubic superpotential neutral, so a nonzero independent constant does not by itself specify a consistent conventional supergravity action. The computed branches are those of the supplied scalar potential; a full embedding needs compatible charges or additional fields. This restriction is explained in Van Proeyen's derivation of the superpotential gauge-covariance condition.
More generally, the supergravity moment-map constraint on D-term breaking follows directly from gauge covariance. If and the moment map is , then at a point with ,Consequently all chiral auxiliary fields vanishing implies the D-term also vanishes there. This relation has no analogue forcing that implication in an arbitrary global supersymmetry model. Its hypothesis matters: the formal D-breaking branch above has , so it does not contradict the identity. These conventional gauge-completion restrictions are additional to the elementary minimization calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 19 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On a complex manifold, the exterior derivative splits by type as . The conjugate Dolbeault operator raises holomorphic degree by one and the Dolbeault operator raises antiholomorphic degree by one. Their identities areUse the convention for the d c operator; then . The alternative convention with a factor changes this last factor only. Complex conjugation of differential-form type interchanges and without reversing the wedge order. Thus, for a real form ,The resulting form is real, independently of the degree or type components of .
The Dolbeault cohomology isIn degree there is no incoming image, and the kernel consists of global holomorphic functions. On a compact connected , attains a maximum. In a coordinate polydisc around a maximizing point, the one-variable maximum modulus principle applied successively along the coordinate directions makes constant on a smaller polydisc. Alternatively the same argument shows the maximum set is open; it is closed and nonempty, so connectedness makes it all of , and the local constancy then makes globally constant. Consequently
A holomorphic p-form on a complex manifold is a form of type with holomorphic coordinate coefficients, equivalently one killed by . For degree , it is -closed: its vanishes by holomorphicity and its has impossible bidegree . Its conjugate is also closed.
The key positivity behind nonzero holomorphic top forms are not exact is explicit. If , complex orientation givesThis is nonnegative everywhere and positive on some open set when , so its integral on the compact manifold is strictly positive. If , closedness of and the Stokes theorem would giveHere Stokes is used on a compact oriented manifold without boundary, and complex-valued forms are handled by linearity. The contradiction proves a nonzero holomorphic top form is not -exact. For dimension zero the same nonexactness follows directly from the absence of degree forms.
Now take a compact complex surface, with no Kähler metric assumed. For a holomorphic one-form , the form has type and is holomorphic, since . It is exact. The top-form result forces , proving closedness. This establishes holomorphic forms on a compact complex surface are closed by an argument which does not require a Kähler identity.
If a holomorphic one-form were exact, write for a global smooth complex function. Comparing types gives . The preceding compactness argument makes constant on every connected component, hence . Holomorphic two-forms are closed and nonexact unless zero by the top-form result. Holomorphic zero-forms are constant on each component, and a nonzero zero-form is never exact because there are no negative-degree forms. Degrees above two contain only zero forms. Therefore every holomorphic form on a compact complex surface is closed, and a nonzero one is never exact.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 13 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On the polydisc, put and defineEach integral is along the straight coordinate segment, which remains in the polydisc. Holomorphic dependence on parameters and differentiation under the integral show that is a holomorphic function. For a fixed , terms with do not depend on , and the term contributes . If , use the assumed symmetry to obtainThese differences telescope. ThereforeThis is the coordinate-integral primitive on a polydisc.
For a closed holomorphic one-form , closedness is exactly . The preceding construction plus gives a local holomorphic function with . The kernel of on the structure sheaf of a complex manifold consists of locally constant functions: holomorphicity already gives , and then implies . Thus the holomorphic Poincaré lemma gives the short exact sequence of sheavesThe first object is the complex constant sheaf, and surjectivity is local, on stalks. It does not say that every global closed holomorphic one-form has a global primitive.
Now assume compactness. The constancy assertion is for a connected complex manifold; otherwise it holds on each connected component. A smooth complex-valued with is a pluriharmonic function. Restricting to each complex coordinate line makes it a harmonic function of one complex variable. Choose where has its global maximum and a coordinate polydisc about . The allowed harmonic maximum principle makes the first coordinate-line restriction constant. Every point on that line still has the same maximal modulus and the same value, so the second coordinate may then vary without changing . Continue through all coordinates to conclude that equals on the whole polydisc. The set where it has this value is closed and, by the same argument at each of its points, open. Connectedness therefore gives constant. In particular global holomorphic functions on a compact connected complex manifold are constant.
For the top-degree pairing, write locally . With the complex orientation,It is everywhere nonnegative and is positive on an open set if is not identically zero. HenceThe phase factor is necessary: the unnormalized integral need not be a positive real number. This is the integral pairing of complex top forms.
If is a holomorphic differential form of degree , then has type and . The graded Leibniz rule and Stokes theorem giveThe positive pairing just proved forces . Thus every holomorphic -form on a compact complex -manifold is closed, without a Kähler metric assumption.
On a compact complex surface, this proves closedness of all holomorphic one-forms. Sending such a form to its de Rham cohomology class defines the required inclusion. Indeed, if , its type gives , so is a global holomorphic function and is constant. Therefore .
To prove the zero intersection, let be holomorphic one-forms and suppose . There is a smooth complex-valued with . Its type components are and . Closedness of gives , hence . Compact pluriharmonic rigidity now makes constant and . The two spaces are therefore linearly independent in de Rham cohomology, and conjugation preserves their dimensions:For the other bound, take the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology of the short exact sequence above. The map is an isomorphism, componentwise. Since every global holomorphic one-form is closed, the relevant portion isIdentify the middle term with first de Rham cohomology, and the last with by the Dolbeault theorem. Taking dimensions givesThese are the Betti and Hodge bounds for compact complex surfaces.
A strict example is the scalar Hopf surface . Polar coordinates identify it smoothly with : the dilation fixes the angular coordinate and shifts by . Its first Betti number is one, since its fundamental group is . The proved lower bound then forces , and the upper bound forces . Thus on this compact complex surface; no unsupported cohomology computation is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 13 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The specified bidegree is the conjugate-linear Hodge star, not the complex-linear extension of the real star. If the pointwise Hermitian inner product is linear in its first argument, it is defined byIt is the real Hodge star operator extended complex-linearly and composed with complex conjugation; . On a compact Hermitian manifold,is a positive definite Hermitian inner product on smooth forms. The formal adjoint is in this convention; the final star in this identity is present in the PDF but is corrupted in the TeX aid.
State the relevant Hodge theorem as follows. On a compact manifold without boundary, the Dolbeault Laplacian is elliptic, self-adjoint and nonnegative. Its harmonic kernel is finite-dimensional, and smooth forms split orthogonally as this kernel plus the image of . There are the orthogonal projection and a smooth Green operator withFor any form , expand the Laplacian term to obtainHarmonic forms are both closed and coclosed, since . They are orthogonal to both other terms; the two images are orthogonal because . This proves the Dolbeault Hodge decompositionThe closed forms are exactly the first two summands: if , then is orthogonal to the adjoint image, and conversely the first two summands are closed. It follows that every Dolbeault cohomology class has a unique harmonic representative. Negative or out-of-range bidegrees mean zero spaces. Compactness and the absence of boundary are necessary for this stated global decomposition.
Now assume a Kähler metric. Set and . The permitted Kähler identities, stated with signs, arewith ordinary commutators because has even degree. Thus , andby . The companion identity gives in the same way.
Define and . Expanding and makes the two mixed anticommutators vanish, so . To prove equality of the latter two, substitute the same commutator formulas and use :The displayed operators are identical. Therefore the Kähler Laplacian identity is
Let be a -exact form. It is closed and orthogonal to harmonic forms. The Dolbeault Hodge decomposition, or the Green identity with , therefore givesFor the Green construction, follows since commutes with ; equivalently the coexact component of a closed form vanishes. This yields exactly the stated factorization.
If also , put and . The identities already proved giveThus is harmonic for and hence for . But it is -exact, so it is orthogonal to the harmonic summand in the Hodge decomposition theorem. Consequently , proving that is -closed.
Furthermore is orthogonal to the common harmonic space, since . Its -Hodge decomposition then has neither a harmonic term nor a coexact term: closedness kills the coexact term. Therefore for a form . It follows thatThis proves the requested ddbar lemma, including the intermediate harmonicity and orthogonality steps. The hypotheses ensure that the potential has a valid bidegree.
Finally is a real closed form and is -exact. Integration by parts makes it orthogonal to every -harmonic form. By the Kähler Laplacian identity it is also orthogonal to the Dolbeault harmonic space; because it is -closed, the Dolbeault Hodge decomposition makes it -exact. Apply the proved ddbar lemma to get for a smooth complex-valued function. Reality gives , so averaging yieldsWith ,The potential is defined up to a real constant on each connected component. This is a statement about cohomologous Kähler forms, not about an arbitrary pair of such forms.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 13 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The canonical bundle is , the holomorphic line bundle of holomorphic top forms on a complex -manifold. For an embedded complex submanifold of dimension , the holomorphic normal bundle is the quotientTaking determinants and duals gives adjunction for a smooth submanifold:For a closed smooth hypersurface, is its divisor line bundle, equipped with a holomorphic section whose zero divisor is with multiplicity one. If locally defines , local meromorphic generators transform by the holomorphic units . The stated normal-bundle relation isEquivalently the conormal is . The closed-divisor interpretation is needed to define ; an arbitrary nonclosed local submanifold does not define that global divisor bundle.
For a holomorphic subbundle , define on sections of , with acting on the bundle factor of a bundle-valued form. It obeys the Leibniz rule. Since is holomorphic, lies in , so . For , their inner products with the normal components of vanish; hence projecting preserves metric compatibility. The uniqueness proved for the Chern connection identifiesThis is the projected Chern connection.
Choose the adapted smooth unitary frame and retain Question 2's input-index convention. The connection matrix is skew-Hermitian. Its upper-left block is for ; writing the lower-left block as forces the upper-right block to be :Holomorphicity of makes the normal part of vanish, so has type , and has type . The matrix represents the second fundamental form of a holomorphic subbundle in this input-index convention. These types would appear in the opposite blocks with coefficient-column indices; they must not be swapped while retaining the printed minus-sign Cartan equation.
Take the upper-left block of the Cartan curvature equation with input indices. It isTherefore the curvature formula for a holomorphic subbundle isThe sign and the order of the factors both follow from the displayed block multiplication.
Now let be a complex torus and a closed smooth hypersurface. The torus has a translation-invariant flat Kähler metric, and and are holomorphically trivial. Give its flat metric and apply the preceding formula to . Since ,For a tangent vector , the latter coefficient is , so is a semipositive real form. Thus is a semipositive holomorphic line bundle. This proves the semipositive canonical bundle of a submanifold of a complex torus assertion directly from curvature. By adjunction for a smooth submanifold, .
Restrict a positive metric on to . The tensor-product metric onhas curvature , which is positive for every nonnegative integer . HenceThe integer condition is implicit in a tensor power. No assertion of strict positivity of is required.
For vanishing, write . The allowed Kodaira vanishing theorem says that on a compact Kähler manifold , for when is a positive holomorphic line bundle. Since is trivial, its application on the torus gives for .
For every , the divisor section gives the exact sequencewhere . Crucially,and is positive by the proved restriction statement. The induced Kähler metric makes compact Kähler, so Kodaira vanishing theorem on gives for all . In the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology, the segmentthen has zero outside terms by induction. ThereforeThis proves vanishing for divisor twists on a complex torus using restriction positivity and the divisor exact sequence, rather than presuming ambient positivity of every divisor twist.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 40 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The chiral superfield condition is for both dotted components. Use left Grassmann derivatives with the displayed supersymmetric covariant derivatives. The odd product rule gives , soThe chirality constraint therefore says that is independent of at fixed . The Grassmann algebra has only two independent components, so every cubic product of them vanishes. Its general even scalar superfield consequently has a scalar coefficient, a term linear in with a Weyl spinor coefficient, and one quadratic term. Choosing the conventional component normalization gives the chiral-superfield component expansionHere is a complex scalar field, an odd Weyl spinor and a complex nonpropagating auxiliary field. Conversely this expansion is annihilated by because and are. At fixed ordinary , the same result is the terminating translation ; this retains the printed contraction convention without changing the order in the barred square.
For a local function of scalar superfields, initially allow . The chain rule givesFor arbitrary chiral component fields the last factor is not constrained to vanish, so chirality requires . Thus on its domain, with no generic conjugate-field dependence. Its ordinary holomorphic derivatives must exist where its nilpotent expansion is evaluated; a pole or branch point there does not define a regular local superfield. Using gives the explicit holomorphic closure of chiral superfields:All three component coefficients are evaluated at . For several chiral superfields, replace by and by . This requirement concerns a function that is to be chiral for arbitrary field configurations; a special constant field configuration does not impose the same functional constraint.
The ungauged two-derivative supersymmetric action is obtained from a real Kähler potential and a holomorphic superpotential:The first integral is a D-term; the second is an F-term. The Kähler metric must be positive for positive scalar kinetic energy. The auxiliary part is , so eliminating it gives the scalar potential in the bosonic sector.
For the single-field Wess–Zumino model, take the canonical Kähler potential and spacetime signature . Component superspace integration givesSince and , the auxiliary equation is . Completing its square leaves in the Lagrangian. Hence the tree-level effective potential isFor nonzero , its two zero-energy supersymmetric vacua are and . The potential is nonnegative because it is an absolute square.
The Trilinear scalar vertices in the Wess–Zumino model come fromWith all field legs incoming, expanding and differentiating each cubic monomial givesThe factor counts the two identical legs; there is no in to cancel it. A factor enforcing four-momentum conservation is implicit. These labels specify fields in an all-incoming Feynman rule; physical outgoing particles are assigned by crossing. There are no or scalar vertices from this on-shell potential.
Equivalently, if are real and with canonically normalized real scalars , then . Differentiation gives , with vanishing and vertices. This is the same pair of complex-field interactions in a real basis.
For the non-renormalization argument, promote to nondynamical chiral spurions. Define one ordinary and one R-symmetry by the Wess–Zumino spurion charge assignment:
Table 1.
Ordinary and R-symmetry spurion charges
. | Quantity | Ordinary charge | R-charge |
|---|---|---|
Each superpotential term is neutral under the ordinary symmetry. Under the R-symmetry, both terms have charge two, which is canceled by the charge of . In particular, is R-neutral as required. The scalar, spinor and auxiliary components of have R-charges . These are formal symmetries when the couplings transform as spurions; replacing them by fixed nonzero numbers need not leave an actual continuous field symmetry.
A local loop-corrected Wilsonian effective action superpotential must be holomorphic in all three chiral variables and obey the same charges. The ratio is neutral under both symmetries, while has the required charges and mass dimension three. Therefore, on a patch with , the most general symmetry-allowed form iswith holomorphic on its domain. This form follows directly for a monomial : ordinary charge gives and R-charge gives , hence , . Each allowed monomial is and already has mass dimension three. Charge symmetry alone leaves undetermined.
To constrain perturbative loops, retain the original elementary chiral superfield and a nonzero infrared cutoff, rather than integrating out the entire field. A regular perturbative superpotential can be expanded about , so andTerms with have poles at . They are excluded by regularity of the local Wilsonian coefficients in the massless limit with the infrared cutoff fixed. At the theory is Gaussian, so the quadratic coefficient remains . The term linear in is the single original cubic vertex: a diagram with three external fields and only that one interaction vertex has no internal loop. Holomorphy disallows coefficients involving or , so it cannot conceal the usual nonholomorphic wave-function corrections in . Matching the one-vertex term gives . Thus the holomorphy argument for superpotential non-renormalization givesThe infrared qualification matters: a singular one-particle-irreducible expression or the action after eliminating an entire massive multiplet is not the same local Wilsonian effective action for the retained field.
Consequently the holomorphic superpotential and its parameters m and g receive no perturbative vertex renormalization. The Kähler potential does undergo wave-function renormalization. If its quadratic term is , then canonical normalization gives andThese canonically normalized running couplings can therefore be renormalized despite the non-renormalization theorem for the holomorphic superpotential. Loop corrections can also change the effective scalar potential through the corrected Kähler metric. The distinction between holomorphic coefficients and canonically normalized couplings is essential to answering the renormalization question.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 17 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the normalization in which a Hodge metric is a Kähler metric whose Kähler form represents the image of an integral cohomology class in real de Rham cohomology. Equivalently, all its periods on integral two-cycles are integers. A convention using only rescales the metric and does not change existence. An invariant metric on a complex torus is one preserved by every translation; its pullback to has constant coefficients.
Let carry a Hodge metric. Average its Kähler form over translations using normalized Haar measure:This averaging Kähler forms over a complex torus preserves reality, type , closedness and positivity. Indeed, for any nonzero tangent vector, the quantity being averaged in is strictly positive. Every translation is homotopic to the identity, since a path from to supplies such a homotopy. Thus , as is seen either on de Rham cohomology or by integrating over two-cycles. The average is translation invariant by invariance of Haar measure and determines a Kähler metric . Its class is still integral. The reverse implication is immediate. Therefore a Hodge metric exists exactly when an invariant one does.
Here is the Riemann bilinear criterion for a period matrix, with the signs kept explicit. For the period matrix of a complex torus, use real coordinates along the lattice basis, so . An invariant real two-form isIts period on the coordinate two-torus is ; these tori generate integral second homology. Thus integrality of the class is exactly . Positivity of a Kähler form makes nonsingular. Because the lattice basis is a real basis of , the complex matrixis invertible: its rows recover the real and imaginary parts of the coordinates. In the coordinates , the matrix of the two-form is , whose inverse is .
The differential form of type (p, q) condition says that the two diagonal blocks of the form matrix vanish. Since the form is nonsingular, this is equivalent to the diagonal blocks of its inverse vanishing. Because is real, these inverse blocks vanish exactly whenSet . Skew-symmetry and reality of give , and the full inverse matrix isInverting these blocks identifies the two-form explicitly:For a vector with complex coordinate column , evaluation yields . Hence this two-form is positive exactly when is a Hermitian positive-definite matrix. This proves both directions: an invariant Hodge metric gives such an integral , and any such produces a constant positive real closed -form of integral periods. In particular,As a sign check, for and the last matrix is , and the associated form is .
For the specified two-dimensional complex torus, putThe real and imaginary period vectors are independent because , so they do form a full lattice. Suppose a polarization matrix existed. Its inverse is a rational skew-symmetric matrix, and hence has the block expressionThe first condition of the Riemann bilinear criterion for a period matrix becomesSeparating real and imaginary parts gives andThe matrices on both sides have rational entries except for the factor . Irrationality of therefore implies and . For a symmetric two-by-two matrix the latter expression is , so . The candidate Hermitian matrix is nowSince , is symmetric and traceless, and is skew-symmetric, and . Thus . A Hermitian positive-definite matrix has strictly positive eigenvalues, hence strictly positive trace. This contradiction proves
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 17 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The unheaded definitions use the complex structure on the real tangent bundle. Compatibility means . Its fundamental Hermitian form is ; the compatibility identity makes this real, alternating and of type . The metric is a Kähler metric precisely when . In complex dimension one a real three-form is zero, so every compatible metric is a Kähler metric.
Now assume closedness and prove the Kähler normal holomorphic coordinates condition. Start with holomorphic coordinates centered at the point and make a complex-linear change so that the positive Hermitian coefficient matrix satisfies . Closedness of the form givesDefine ; it is symmetric in . Choose new coordinates implicitly byThe derivative of this holomorphic map at zero is the identity, so the holomorphic inverse function theorem makes valid local coordinates. In the new coordinates,At zero, , and differentiating givesHermitian symmetry makes all antiholomorphic first derivatives zero as well. Taylor's theorem for a smooth function now yieldsThus condition (a) implies condition (b), with the exact factor in the fundamental-form convention retained.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 43 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
In the Polonyi model, the Kähler metric is . The relevant Kähler covariant derivative of a superpotential isThe supergravity auxiliary field is , up to an irrelevant common phase convention. Thus a constant vacuum preserves supersymmetry exactly when this auxiliary field vanishes. For , the superpotential and scalar potential vanish identically, and every constant scalar value is a supersymmetric vacuum.
For , put . Its supersymmetry condition becomesSince , it requires and . Hence the Polonyi supersymmetry branches areAt these points , so the supergravity F-term potential is negative, : these are supersymmetric Anti-de Sitter spacetime vacua, not zero-energy ones. The condition also makes them stationary, as follows by differentiating the supergravity F-term potential.
For and , the auxiliary field cannot vanish anywhere, so any vacuum has supersymmetry breaking. For , a stationary vacuum at any other scalar value still breaks supersymmetry; the parameter condition alone does not determine which vacuum is selected. In particular, a nontrivial zero-energy vacuum cannot preserve supersymmetry: and would also imply , whereas gives and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 43 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The canonical Kähler potential gives and inverse Kähler metric one. Substituting the superpotential and its Kähler covariant derivative of a superpotential into the supergravity F-term potential yieldsFor real , the prefactor is simply ; the modulus form also covers a complex phase. To keep both scalar directions explicit, write and . ThenThe negative term is essential: unlike the global F-term scalar potential, the supergravity F-term potential need not be nonnegative. This is why cancelling the cosmological constant does not force the auxiliary field to vanish.
