Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 49 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Split the free interaction picture field as , where the first part contains annihilation operators and the second creation operators. Time ordering places the operator at the later time on the left, while normal ordering places all creation operators on the left. For , commuting the annihilation part of the first field through the creation part of the second givesThe commutator is the c-numberFor , the same calculation interchanges . Combining the two time orders proves the two-field Wick contraction identitywhereThe equality with the four-dimensional integral follows by closing the energy contour at the positive-energy pole for and the negative-energy pole for the reverse order. This fixes the scalar Feynman propagator pole prescription; in this convention itself includes the factor .
Because these interactions have no derivatives, . Expand the Dyson seriesApply the Wick theorem to each term together with the external insertions. Every paired field contributes a propagator, and the remaining normal-ordered vacuum expectation vanishes unless no fields remain. Representing the propagators by Fourier integrals and integrating each vertex position gives the four-momentum conservation delta function. The and contractions into labelled vertex slots cancel the factorials in the interaction density. The resulting scalar-field cubic and quartic Feynman vertices areEach vertex also has , each independent internal momentum is integrated with , and repeated equivalent contractions give the usual Feynman-diagram symmetry factor. For the unamputated correlation functions, retain the propagators joining external insertions to vertices. The displayed unnormalized numerator includes disconnected vacuum bubbles; dividing by cancels them. Amputated scattering amplitudes additionally use the LSZ reduction formula.
For stability, examine the classical scalar potentialThe tree-level boundedness criterion is , with arbitrary real cubic coupling. If , boundedness requires and ; if , or with , the potential is unbounded below. Thus a positive quartic coupling permits a stable ground-state vacuum, although it need not be the perturbative vacuum at .
For and , the stability of a cubic-quartic scalar potential determines when zero is a global minimum:The square bracket is nonnegative for every field value exactly whenFor a nontrivial equality case there is a second degenerate minimum at . If and , zero remains a local minimum but is a false vacuum, with a lower minimum elsewhere. If and , the origin is the quartic minimum despite its vanishing quadratic curvature. These are classical or tree-level stability statements; renormalized couplings and the quantum effective potential refine the quantum analysis.
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 61 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use natural units and the unreduced Planck mass ; it is times the reduced Planck mass. A homogeneous canonical inflaton has and . Vacuum domination by a scalar field requires , with other matter and the curvature term negligible in the Friedmann equation. The equation-of-state parameter is then near , and the Friedmann acceleration equation gives accelerating expansion.
For sustained slow-roll inflation, Hubble friction must dominate the inflaton acceleration: , with the scalar potential changing only slightly in one Hubble time. In terms of the potential slow-roll parameter and second potential slow-roll parameter, this requiresFor the quartic scalar potential,Thus supplies a broad slow-roll range when . At an initial density of order the Planck density, potential domination givesso both potential slow-roll parameters are small for small . Small initial kinetic energy is a separate condition; the height of the scalar potential alone does not enforce it. These classical equations describe the post-Planck evolution under the model assumptions, rather than resolving quantum gravity at the initial endpoint.
Take ; the negative branch follows by the symmetry . Dropping kinetic energy from the Friedmann equation and acceleration from the inflaton equation of motion givesWriting , the quartic-potential slow-roll solution isIndeed, , and integrating gives . These expressions apply during slow-roll inflation; their formal late-time saturation must not be used beyond the end of that approximation.
The exact end of accelerating expansion is , equivalently for the scalar-dominated flat model. The quartic-inflation endpoint estimate uses the leading potential condition , givingThe numerical coefficient is an endpoint estimate: the slow-roll approximation breaks down there. Imposing estimates when slow roll loses accuracy and gives a different order-one coefficient, not a different exact acceleration condition.
The slow-roll e-fold count isThe quartic-inflation expansion from Planck density combines this initial estimate with the conventional endpoint to giveFor small the dominant term is enormous; the order-one endpoint uncertainty does not affect that conclusion.
To estimate the reheating temperature, assume prompt, efficient reheating converts the end-of-inflation energy into a thermal radiation bath. With the same endpoint convention, , and equating this to the radiation energy density givesThe quartic-inflation prompt-reheating estimate fixes the scaling; the endpoint kinetic energy changes the coefficient by order one. Without an inflaton coupling and its thermalization history, alone cannot specify the actual reheating temperature.
Finally, during cosmic inflation the comoving Hubble radius decreases:An initially causally connected patch is enlarged enough that the present observable region can lie within it. Its portions may subsequently be far outside one another's Hubble radii while retaining their common earlier thermal history. This solves the horizon problem if the number of e-folds is sufficiently large, conventionally of order sixty for the relevant thermal history; can readily exceed that. The necessary count depends on reheating and later expansion. The causal mechanism and the conversion back to a hot universe are discussed in David Tong's account of inflation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 54 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First complexify the Clifford algebra in spacetime dimensions. Multiplying appropriate generators by converts the signature to the Euclidean form without changing the complex module dimension. Pair the generators intoThe Clifford algebra relations giveThe commuting occupation operators have eigenvalues zero or one. Choose a nonzero state killed by every ; repeated annihilation reaches such a state in any finite irreducible module. Acting with distinct creation operators produces the occupation statesTheir distinct occupation patterns make them linearly independent, and their span is invariant under every Clifford generator. Irreducibility therefore makes it the entire Dirac module. This derives the even-dimensional Clifford spinor dimension:The chirality matrix is a phase-adjusted product of all generators. It squares to one, anticommutes with each generator and acts as occupation parity up to an overall sign. Its two eigenspaces each have states. The even Clifford algebra, and hence the connected spin group, preserves them, giving irreducible Weyl spinors of complex dimension . A Majorana spinor imposes a reality condition only in signatures where it exists; simultaneous Majorana and Weyl conditions are not available in every even dimension.
In Lorentzian ten dimensions, the complex Dirac module has dimension , and a Weyl module dimension . A Majorana-Weyl spinor is allowed and has real components before its equation of motion. The massless Dirac equation leaves eight physical gaugino polarizations. A ten-dimensional massless gauge field also has physical polarizations. Thus ten-dimensional super Yang-Mills theory has eight bosonic and eight fermionic states per gauge generator, with sixteen real supercharges.
For dimensional reduction, take a flat six-torus with periodic fermions and retain fields independent of its coordinates. Split into and six internal components , . The latter are four-dimensional real adjoint scalar fields. Under the spin groups of the two factors, a ten-dimensional chiral spinor decomposes asfor , with . The Majorana condition relates these conjugate pieces, leaving four independent four-dimensional Weyl spinors. The supersymmetry parameters reduce in exactly the same fashion: sixteen real charges are four four-dimensional supersymmetries. The resulting field content isThe on-shell counts are bosonic and fermionic states, as required. The internal spin group supplies the R-symmetry of the reduced action.
To derive its scalar potential, use Hermitian gauge matrices and a positive trace inner product, withIf the internal volume is , integration gives . Since internal derivatives vanish,With mostly-minus spacetime signature, has an extra minus sign and the double sum over mixed indices gives a factor two. Rescale and to canonical fields. The resulting bosonic Lagrangian iswhere . A commutator of Hermitian matrices is anti-Hermitian, so the last term is minus a nonnegative scalar potential:The sum is over ordered internal pairs; a sum over would instead have coefficient . Trace normalization merely changes the matched gauge-coupling convention.
The origin attains zero potential, so the global minima are exactlyFor a compact connected gauge group, a commuting tuple is simultaneously conjugate into a Cartan subalgebra. Write , where is the rank. Every choice of the real numbers has zero potential. After the residual Weyl group identifications, the classical commuting-scalar vacua of four-dimensional N=4 Yang-Mills theory form in the four-dimensional theory. For one may describe them as six simultaneous diagonal matrices, with tracelessness and permutations of their common eigenvalue labels. Varying these eigenvalues changes gauge-invariant configurations while leaving , proving the existence of genuine flat directions of a scalar potential, not just gauge-equivalent directions. Generic values break the gauge group to its maximal torus; coincident eigenvalue vectors produce enhanced unbroken gauge symmetry. If one keeps a finite compact torus rather than the four-dimensional limit, large gauge transformations add periodic identifications of the Wilson-line coordinates.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 54 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose canonical vector normalization, , and the convention that the Fayet–Iliopoulos term contributes . In a constant Lorentz-invariant vacuum with vanishing gauge field strength, the gaugino transformation containsA nonzero therefore shifts a fermion by a constant under supersymmetry: no invariant vacuum can have this expectation. With only D-term breaking, the Goldstino is the gaugino . If F-term expectation values were present too, the Goldstino would instead be the corresponding linear combination of matter fermions and gauginos.
For a genuinely charged single chiral superfield, , gauge invariance forbids every nonconstant polynomial superpotential in that field. The renormalizable superspace action is consequentlywhere . A constant superpotential is dynamically irrelevant in global supersymmetry. Take the standard vector expansion with highest component . In the matter exponential, the term then contributes . The gauge kinetic chiral integral contributes , and the FI term contributes . ThusThe auxiliary equations are and . Completing the square givesThis is the single charged-field D-term breaking model. Its vacuum is found by minimizing over , not by assuming that a nonzero FI constant must break supersymmetry.
For , the square cannot be canceled by any . It is minimized at the origin, whereSupersymmetry breaking occurs while the internal gauge symmetry remains unbroken. Expanding the scalar potential about the origin givesThere is no superpotential fermion mass and no gaugino-matter mixing at . Therefore the chiral multiplet mass splitting isBoth real components of the complex scalar have the same positive squared mass; the gaugino is the massless Goldstino. With this sign convention and , the breaking condition is . Reversing the FI sign convention reverses this quoted charge inequality, while the condition that the scalar cannot cancel the auxiliary-field shift is unchanged.
For , the minimum instead satisfiesThe nonzero charged scalar expectation breaks the continuous internal gauge symmetry and preserves supersymmetry. To see the resulting supersymmetric Higgs mechanism, choose a real representative and expand . The scalar kinetic term supplies a vector mass, the D-term potential supplies the radial scalar mass, and the Yukawa interaction pairs the two Weyl fermions. They have the common squared massThe phase field is the absorbed Goldstone mode. There is no Goldstino in this supersymmetric Higgs vacuum; the fields assemble into a massive N=1 vector multiplet. This branch makes explicit that internal gauge breaking and supersymmetry breaking are different phenomena.
If and , the minimum of is . Both supersymmetry and the continuous gauge symmetry are then unbroken, and the fields have zero tree-level masses at that vacuum. For the degenerate uncharged case with no superpotential interactions, a nonzero still breaks supersymmetry in the vector sector, but the free chiral multiplet stays unsplit and cannot Higgs the gauge field. An uncharged field would allow additional superpotential terms, outside the genuinely charged model above.
The calculation is classical. A single charged Weyl fermion has nonzero Abelian gauge and mixed gravitational anomaly coefficients proportional to and ; a complete quantum gauge theory needs an anomaly-canceling completion. The tree-level branches above refer to the specified field content; extra fields in such a completion can change the vacuum structure.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 53 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
There is a sign inconsistency in the printed model. For the ordinary cross product let . The vector triple-product identity gives . Consequently the printed has gauge curvatureIts gauge curvature cannot instead contain the printed negative quadratic term. For a noncommuting pure gauge potential for this gauge covariant derivative, whereas . Thus the printed gauge kinetic term assigns a nonzero value to a connection obtained by applying the gauge-field transformation law to the zero connection. Literally the printed action has global rotations but not the requested local triplet gauge symmetry. The cross-product convention for an adjoint covariant derivative makes the minimal repair explicit: change the gauge field strength quadratic term to a plus sign, retaining the printed gauge covariant derivative. Changing the sign in the gauge covariant derivative instead would be another consistent convention. The remaining calculation uses the first repair.
The corrected theory has local SO(3) gauge symmetry, equivalently the adjoint-field realization of the SU(2) Lie algebra; its adjoint scalar fields and gauge fields are insensitive to the center of a group of SU(2). Explicitly, andBoth and transform as triplets, so their dot products and the scalar potential are invariant. Assume , and take without loss of generality. For the minima have . Choose the scalar-field vacuum , whose stabilizer consists of rotations around the third axis: the residual gauge symmetry is SO(2), locally U(1).
In unitary gauge write , and . These are the neutral massless gauge field, two charged massive gauge fields and a real radial scalar field. DefineSubstitution gives and . The entire physical-field Lagrangian density is thereforeIn particular ; this directly verifies the scalar field kinetic and vector mass terms. Expanding the scalar potential gives . Comparing the quadratic terms with standard real scalar field and charged-vector mass terms yields the adjoint triplet Higgs spectrum,This also rewrites the purely vector interactions, which are already contained in the displayed gauge field strengths rather than omitted from the theory.
The original symmetry remains unbroken at . The unique minimum is then , with three massless gauge fields and three massless real scalar field components; the quartic scalar field interaction remains. The physical degrees of freedom number . At the two broken generators supply two Goldstone bosons, eaten to give longitudinal gauge-boson polarizations of the charged vectors. The physical count is : two massive vectors, one massless vector and one radial scalar field. The scalar components eaten in unitary gauge are not additional physical particles.
For the broken phase all interactions containing the physical scalar field areMultiplying interaction coefficients by and differentiating with respect to the external fields includes the identical-field factorials. The scalar vertices of an adjoint triplet Higgs model areFor example, the rule contains , whereas the rule contains only from its two identical scalar fields. There are no or vertices: the radial scalar field is neutral under the residual U(1). There is no derivative scalar-vector vertex in this physical spectrum in unitary gauge.
All physical-scalar interaction vertices in the broken triplet Higgs model, with the unbroken-phase scalar vertices shown below; dashed lines are scalars and wavy lines are vectors
. Details. For completeness, if the unbroken phase is chosen, its physical scalar fields are the three components , not a single radial . Expanding its gauge-covariant kinetic term givesWith all momenta incoming and Fourier transform convention , the three unbroken-phase rules areThe first rule follows by differentiating once on each possible scalar: for , the interaction is , which fixes the momentum sign. The remaining rules follow from the quadratic gauge interaction and . There are no unbroken-phase cubic scalar field Feynman vertices.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 55 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the canonical chiral-superfield component expansion in chiral coordinates, with . Multiplication of the Grassmann variables givesFor example, the two linear-in- factors in contribute , while each of the three choices of the remaining scalar in gives the same contribution. Thus the required F-term isAdding its Hermitian conjugate and the canonical term eliminates the auxiliary field through and yields the F-term scalar potentialIt is nonnegative, and for its absolute minima are and , each with zero energy. They coincide when . If , only is a minimum; if , every is a minimum. These exhaust the local minima as well: at any other stationary point forces ; for this is , whose quadratic variation has opposite signs in two real directions and is a saddle.
Expand around , writing . The scalar potential and fermionic terms areThe canonical kinetic term is . Its quadratic potential is , while the Weyl fermion has mass . HenceAt the other minimum, , so the same mass equality holds. The quartic and Yukawa interaction are both fixed by : defining and givesThis is the supersymmetric relation between quartic and Yukawa couplings. The printed equality of the two couplings refers to their common supersymmetric origin; literal equality of the conventional coefficients and is not true for arbitrary . If instead the Yukawa term is defined as , then and .
To establish perturbative superpotential non-renormalization, use a Wilsonian effective action with a fixed positive infrared cutoff, so integrating out modes does not introduce massless infrared singularities. Promote to nondynamical chiral superfields, or spurions. The holomorphic superpotential depends holomorphically on , not on their complex conjugates. Assign an ordinary charge and an R-charge byThe superspace coordinate has , so has charge and must have R-charge . Both original monomials satisfy the two selection rules. A holomorphic perturbative monomial must obeywhich gives and . Equivalently,The nonnegative integer follows from perturbative analyticity in . Regularity as at the fixed Wilsonian cutoff excludes , which would require negative powers of . The remaining quadratic coefficient is fixed to by the free theory at . The coefficient is : a three-point contribution at first order in has just one cubic vertex, uses all three legs externally, and cannot contain a loop. A loop correction would require additional interactions, whereas the selection rules and holomorphy have already excluded the corresponding monomials. ThereforeThis proof concerns the local Wilsonian superpotential. The Kähler potential can acquire a wave-function factor , and canonical normalization changes the couplings to and . Such running, and nonlocal infrared terms in a one-particle-irreducible action, do not contradict the holomorphic result.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 55 3 Solution 2026-10-14
Assume global four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetry with canonical kinetic terms and no explicit gaugino mass. Write and . To match the displayed stationarity equation, use ; this differs by a minus sign from the eliminated auxiliary field in the component convention of Solution 2. The real D-terms are , with Hermitian gauge generators. A constant Fayet–Iliopoulos term is permitted only for an appropriate Abelian factor. The scalar potential isDifferentiate with respect to , holding independent:Thus stationary point conditions gives the first requested identity. Gauge invariance of the superpotential gives . Conjugating it and using Hermiticity gives , the second condition in the form needed below.
At the vacuum, define and . The two conditions combine asHere the upper equation is stationarity and the lower equation is conjugated gauge invariance. The chiral-superfield fermion mass matrix contributes , and the gauge Yukawa interaction contributes the mixed chiral-fermion/gaugino bilinear. With canonical Weyl fermion and gaugino kinetic terms, and choosing the gaugino phase to put the mixed bilinear in real-sign convention, these terms areThe factor is important: the matrix directly acting on the printed is the same mass bilinear with rescaled gauginos, rather than literally the canonical matrix. In detail, for ,Since supersymmetry breaking makes this vector nonzero, there is at least one zero mass eigenvalue. A normalized massless fermion isWith the consistent gaugino phase, the inhomogeneous vacuum supersymmetry transformation of is proportional to the same vector . Therefore shifts by a nonzero constant times the transformation parameter: it is the Goldstino, the Goldstone fermion of broken global supersymmetry. The argument guarantees at least one Goldstino zero mode, not the absence of other massless fermions.
For the second calculation, first take only canonical chiral superfields and F-term breaking. At a stationary vacuum , let , andThese follow by differentiating twice. The quadratic scalar potential isThe doubled scalar mass matrix has blocksTransforming to the canonically normalized real components of preserves its trace, so the sum of real scalar mass squares is . The Weyl fermion mass squares are the eigenvalues of and their sum is . Each Weyl mass eigenstate has two physical spin states. The printed supertrace has scalar sign and fermion weight , henceThe frequently used boson-minus-fermion definition has the opposite overall sign and gives the same zero. The mixing block can split scalar masses but cannot change this trace. This proves the tree-level supertrace mass sum rule; it uses canonical kinetic terms and a renormalizable global theory, rather than a general supergravity or noncanonical effective theory.
In the MSSM, trying to make all squarks and sleptons heavy through direct canonical tree-level F-term breaking encounters this constraint. In an unbroken electric-charge and color sector, the scalar mass-squared trace is twice the trace for its ordinary fermionic partners. More explicitly, take a unit vector minimizing . For , choose so that . The curvature along this real scalar direction is then at most , so at least one scalar mass square is no larger than the smallest fermion mass square in that sector. For one isolated pair the scalar masses are . Thus light quarks can force an unacceptably light squark, or a tachyon, under these assumptions. A hidden supersymmetry-breaking sector with mediation produces effective soft supersymmetry breaking; radiative effects, noncanonical kinetic terms, or supergravity can change the assumptions and allow a viable spectrum. The trace over an arbitrary enlarged theory alone would not locate the light state in the visible sector; the MSSM conclusion uses the conserved-charge block structure.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 55 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use an unfluxed toroidal zero-mode dimensional reduction, with no projection removing fields. A ten-dimensional gauge field has physical polarizations per gauge generator. Its Majorana-Weyl spinor partner has sixteen real components before the massless equation, and eight propagating fermionic states. Thus ten-dimensional super Yang-Mills theory has sixteen real supercharges and eight bosonic plus eight fermionic states per generator.
Split the spacetime index as , with and six internal directions. The zero modes of become and six real adjoint scalar fields . The spinor representation decomposes under into four four-dimensional Weyl spinors; the Majorana condition supplies their conjugates rather than independent additional spinors. All sixteen supercharges survive, giving four-dimensional N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. The supermultiplet is therefore one gauge vector, four Weyl gauginos and six real scalars, all in the Adjoint representation, with bosonic and fermionic states. The internal acts as R-symmetry, with the scalars in its six-dimensional representation and the Weyl gauginos in its four-dimensional representation.
Since the internal derivatives vanish, the internal Yang-Mills field strength is in a Hermitian-generator convention. The internal part of the gauge kinetic term becomes the scalar potentialHere the invariant trace is normalized by and ; the coupling and scalar kinetic terms use the same normalization. The sum includes both orders of each pair. For Hermitian , the commutator is anti-Hermitian, so equivalently . It is nonnegative and vanishes exactly when all six adjoint scalars commute. This gives the classical vacuum moduli space of a supersymmetric gauge theory.
Interpret as a massless three-form gauge field, with transformation and kinetic term built from . The massless p-form gauge field count is an on-shell count, rather than the raw tensor components. For a null plane wave, gauge transformations remove the components along the null gauge direction, while the field equation removes the complementary longitudinal components. The independent polarization is consequently an antisymmetric tensor on the transverse directions. ThusThis argument incorporates the redundancies in the two-form gauge parameter; subtracting once from would not do so.
Let and split indices into four-dimensional and internal ones. The toroidal reduction of a p-form gauge field gives one , two-forms , vectors and scalars . A massless three-form in four dimensions has no local propagating state; each massless two-form has one, each vector two and each scalar one. The two-form state can equivalently be represented by a scalar using massless p-form duality: its three-form field strength satisfies . ConsequentlyThis verifies the required matching, including where the count is . The nondynamical four-dimensional three-form can carry a constant flux parameter, but that is not an additional propagating degree of freedom.
Eleven-dimensional supergravity contains the metric , a three-form and a Majorana gravitino . The massless graviton is a symmetric traceless tensor of the nine-dimensional transverse rotation group, giving states. The three-form gives . The gravitino is a gamma-traceless transverse vector-spinor: a spinor representation of has sixteen real components, so it gives states. Hence the eleven-dimensional balance is bosonic states and fermionic states.
Reduction on a circle yields type IIA supergravity, with thirty-two real supercharges and opposite ten-dimensional chiralities. The metric decomposes into the ten-dimensional metric, the Kaluza-Klein vector and the radius scalar, or dilaton. Their counts are . The three-form gives a ten-dimensional three-form and a two-form , with states. The eleven-dimensional Majorana spinor decomposes into two opposite-chirality Majorana-Weyl spinors. The external gravitino components give two gravitini, each with states; the internal component supplies two spin-one-half dilatini, each with eight states. ThereforeThe two-form is in the NS--NS sector and the one-form and three-form are the Ramond--Ramond potentials. This reduction is nonchiral IIA rather than IIB.
Reduction on a seven-torus yields four-dimensional N=8 supergravity, again preserving thirty-two real supercharges. From one gets one graviton, seven vectors and scalars , giving states. From one gets a nonpropagating four-dimensional three-form, seven two-forms, vectors and scalars, giving states. Dualizing the seven two-forms to scalars gives the familiar field contentThe gravitino reduces to eight four-dimensional Majorana gravitini and spin-one-half Majorana fermions, after the external gravitini are separated from their gamma-trace mixing with the internal components. Their count is . Together these fields form the single maximal supergravity multiplet.
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 ia Paper 3 9C ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The derivative matrixis symmetric in . Contracting it with the antisymmetric Levi-Civita symbol gives the curlDirect differentiation of the scalar potential givesso . To identify the level sets, use the cross product identityIf , write relative to its direction. Then . Thus each negative level is a circular cylinder with axis and radius . The zero level is the axis itself; positive levels are empty. If , the scalar potential is identically zero, so its zero level is all of space and every other level is empty.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 56 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a single chiral superfield, the supergravity F-term potential, with restored, isThe canonical Kähler potential has , so the Kähler covariant derivative of a superpotential isConsequently the Polonyi model has the scalar potentialThe negative term is essential; retaining only the square of the supergravity auxiliary field would give the global F-term scalar potential rather than the supergravity F-term potential.
Set and . In this notation , whereAt , , one has and , so . To prove that this is a local minimum in both real directions, rather than checking only the real axis, put . Direct expansion gives the stable zero-energy Polonyi vacuum identityEvery coefficient outside the square is strictly positive, and the exponential factor is positive. Thus everywhere and equality requires , provided . This proves the stronger conclusiona unique global minimum of this Polonyi model. If , the scalar potential vanishes identically and this uniqueness and supersymmetry breaking conclusion do not hold.
For an independent local stability check, the Hessian matrix of at this global minimum is diagonal:Since and its first derivatives vanish there, differentiating the exponential introduces no additional Hessian matrix terms at the global minimum. For canonically normalized real fluctuations , the squared scalar masses are thereforewhich are both positive.
Although the vacuum energy is zero, the supergravity auxiliary field is not. In the convention , its vacuum expectation value obeysThe matter fermion transformation contains a term proportional to , so no nonzero constant supersymmetry parameter leaves this vacuum invariant. Hence supersymmetry is spontaneously broken even though the vacuum energy vanishes: the positive auxiliary field contribution cancels the negative gravitational term. The matter fermion supplies the goldstino, which is absorbed by the gravitino in the super-Higgs mechanism.
Using the gravitino mass from a superpotential, and , givesAn auxiliary field has mass dimension two. Defining the supersymmetry breaking scale by , one obtainsThus the gravitino mass is small compared with the supersymmetry breaking scale when that scale is sub-Planckian, as in the usual hierarchy . This smallness is gravitational suppression; it is not a conclusion valid for arbitrary choices of the mass parameter.
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 2008 iii Paper 62 2 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
With zero scalar potential and a homogeneous scalar field, the preceding perfect fluid identification givesThis equation of state is that of a stiff fluid. The field equation integrates to , since . Hence , agreeing with the cosmological continuity equation for . If this nonzero component dominates a flat universe, the Friedmann equation giveson the expanding branch. Integrating once more, . Choosing the Big Bang at yieldsThe homogeneous free scalar as a stiff fluid construction requires ; a constant zero-potential field has zero energy density and cannot dominate this expansion.
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 2010 ii Paper 1 35B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The retarded Green function for in three dimensions is . Radial reduction turns the homogeneous equation away from the origin into a one-dimensional outgoing wave for ; the coefficient is fixed by the small-sphere delta-source normalization. Convolution with therefore solves the potential equation with vanishing incoming/initial field and givesCurrent conservation ensures the Lorenz gauge: the divergence solves the homogeneous wave equation with zero retarded data. Homogeneous radiation could be added if that physical boundary condition were not imposed.
Choose the edge , directed along positive . Put and . Its retarded contribution on the axis isThe two symmetric halves are elementary inverse-hyperbolic integrals. ThusReverse the direction for the opposite current orientation.
The closed loop's uniform switched current has zero spatial divergence, including at the corners, so it creates no charge accumulation. For the neutral loop and its current-induced field the retarded scalar potential is zero everywhere, not merely on the axis. At an axial point, opposite edges have identical retardation distances and opposite vector directions, so their vector potentials cancel at every time. ThereforeThis cancellation holds distributionally at the wavefronts as well. Any independently prescribed initial electrostatic charge would contribute a separate field; it is not determined by the stated circulating current.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 45 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Eliminating the auxiliary field gives and the nonnegative F-term scalar potentialUse after the critical-point shift, so thatThis notation keeps the original parameters distinct from the shifted mass coefficient . For real with , the real slice is . It has zero-energy minima at and , a maximum between them at with height , and grows quartically toward both ends. These statements follow by differentiating: .
When it becomes , with one degenerate zero minimum. When , it is after a permissible shift. For the real parameters with negative discriminant, the original real slice can have a positive minimum even though the full complex scalar potential has zero-energy vacua away from that slice. The sketch distinguishes these regimes:
Real scalar-potential slices: two supersymmetric minima, a double root, complex vacua off the slice, and flat F-term breaking
. Details. The plots use illustrative normalized coefficients, not values fixed by the exam. A positive minimum on a chosen real slice is not evidence for supersymmetry breaking in the full complex field space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 45 2 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Taylor expansion about any supersymmetric vacuum givesTherefore the fluctuation scalar potential isFor the nonzero vacuum in the shifted coordinate, . Thus it is also . The cubic interaction changes sign compared with expansion at the other root, whereas the quadratic mass term is the same.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 52 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A stable symmetry-breaking minimum requires and . Put . The common scalar potential can then be written, up to a constant, asIts minima form the sphere . Choose the vacuum direction . If instead with positive , the minimum is at the origin and the assumed nonzero vacuum expectation value is not a stable vacuum of these models.
In the ungauged theory, the internal symmetry is global ; its connected part is . Constant orthogonal transformations preserve both the kinetic term and the potential. The chosen vacuum is invariant under acting on its first two components, so the continuous breaking is with two broken generators. The vacuum orientations are genuinely different degenerate global vacua.
The global triplet scalar symmetry breaking is visible directly in the fluctuation masses. Write . The potential Hessian isThe quadratic Lagrangian is thereforeThere is one radial scalar of mass and two massless Goldstone bosons. The two Goldstone modes describe motion tangential to the vacuum sphere. They remain physical, since a global rotation has only constant parameters and cannot remove arbitrary spacetime-dependent fluctuations. All three original real-scalar degrees of freedom remain. Interactions persist: the shifted potential is , containing cubic and quartic terms. Masslessness of the angular modes is protected by the exact continuous symmetry through Goldstone's theorem.
In the gauged theory, the three-component real field is the vector representation of local , equivalently the Adjoint representation of . The center of acts trivially on this field, so both descriptions have the same local field content and perturbative spectrum. Take , for which . The covariant kinetic term and the gauge kinetic term are invariant under local transformations with the associated connection transformation. The scalar inversion , with the gauge field unchanged, is also a discrete invariance of the displayed action.
The vacuum leaves rotations about its third axis unbroken. The residual gauge group is , or the corresponding subgroup in the description. Expanding the covariant kinetic term about givesThus the gauge-boson mass matrix is . The third generator annihilates the vacuum, while the first two do not. The masses are , , and .
The quadratic derivative mixing displays what happens to the Goldstone fields. With the generator convention just chosen,Local rotations can set the two angular fields to zero in unitary gauge. Then andThe two Goldstone modes supply the longitudinal polarizations of the two massive vector bosons. They do not survive as additional physical massless scalars. The radial scalar is still physical, and retains only two transverse polarizations. This adjoint triplet Higgs spectrum realizes the Higgs mechanism; the gauge group is only partially broken, so one massless gauge boson remains.
The degree-of-freedom check isIn contrast, the global theory has just the three scalar modes, including its two physical Goldstone bosons. A vacuum expectation value in the local theory is a choice of gauge-fixed description: the direction can be changed by gauge transformations and is not itself an observable. Gauge-independent masses and the physical degree count express the actual effect. Both theories retain Lorentz symmetry in the constant scalar vacuum.



