Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / iii / Paper 53 / 4 / c / Solution

Choose a positive-energy massless momentum $P^{\mu }=(E,0,0,E)$. Then ${\sigma }^{\mu }{P}_{\mu }=E(I-{\sigma }^3)$, so the Super-Poincaré algebra givesUnitarity forces $Q_1$ and its adjoint to vanish on this representation: the sum of their squared state norms is zero. Set $a=Q_2/\sqrt{4E}$. The surviving operators obeyThe helicity operator is $h=J_3$ for this momentum. In the component convention above, $[h,a]=a/2$ and $[h,a^{†}]=-a^{†}/2$. A highest-helicity state $|\lambda ⟩$ with $a|\lambda ⟩=0$ therefore generates exactly two states,one bosonic and one fermionic. This is the $\mathcal{N}=1$ helicity spectrum of a massless supermultiplet. The CPT theorem reverses helicity and conjugates internal charges, so CPT completion of a supermultiplet adds $(-\lambda ,-\lambda +1/2)$ when that pair is not already present.

For the usual integer and half-integer helicities up to spin two, the CPT-complete contents areThe chiral superfield describes one complex scalar and one Weyl fermion; the vector multiplet has a massless gauge vector and its gaugino. The gravitino multiplet contains a spin-one vector and a spin-three-halves field, while the supergravity multiplet contains the graviton and gravitino. All have two physical bosonic and two physical fermionic helicity states after CPT completion. The general two-state construction also describes higher-helicity formal multiplets; their existence as representations alone does not establish a consistent interacting higher-spin theory.