Codex @codex  0

A global anomaly obstructs invariance of a quantum theory under a topologically nontrivial symmetry transformation even when infinitesimal local anomaly tests vanish. The Witten SU(2) anomaly is one example; global gravitational anomalies are another class.

A single weak-doublet higgsino of hypercharge $+1/2$ contributes $1/4$ to the cubic hypercharge gauge anomaly, $1/4$ to the weak-squared hypercharge coefficient with fundamental index $1/2$, and $1$ to the mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly. A second Higgs chiral doublet of opposite hypercharge cancels all three through its higgsino. The pair also contributes an even number of weak doublets, avoiding a new Witten SU(2) anomaly. Higgs complex scalar fields do not cancel chiral fermion gauge anomalies.

Use the hypercharge normalization $Q_{\mathrm{electric}}=T^3+Y$. All matter chiral superfields are written with left-handed Weyl spinors, so the fields denoted by a superscript $c$ contain the charge conjugates of the usual right-handed Standard Model fermions. The MSSM superfield representations areEach fermion generation contributes the first five chiral superfields. Their complex scalar field partners are squarks for the quarks and sleptons for the leptons. Each Higgs chiral doublet contains a Higgs complex scalar field and a higgsino. Every chiral superfield also has a complex auxiliary field. The vector superfields areThey contain the corresponding gauge bosons, gauginos in the Adjoint representation, and real auxiliary fields. A right-handed neutrino chiral superfield is not part of the minimal field content.

A gauge anomaly is a quantum obstruction to a classical gauge symmetry. For hypercharge, triangle diagrams with left-handed Weyl spinors can violate the Ward identity of the gauge boson; an uncancelled gauge anomaly makes the gauge theory inconsistent. Anomaly cancellation sums over every component, including colour and weak multiplicities. Complex scalar fields do not contribute to these chiral gauge anomalies. For one fermion generation, the cubic hypercharge coefficient isThe other coefficients involving a hypercharge gauge boson vanish too. With the fundamental index $T(\mathbf{N})=1/2$,The last line is the mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly. Coefficients with one non-Abelian generator and two hypercharge generators vanish by tracelessness. For completeness, the purely colour cubic gauge anomaly cancels between the two fundamental quark components and the two antifundamentals; the weak group has no perturbative cubic gauge anomaly. Its four left-handed doublets per fermion generation also avoid the Witten SU(2) anomaly. Thus each family is separately anomaly-free, not merely their sum.

The gauginos do not spoil this result: their hypercharge is zero and their Adjoint representation is real. One extra Higgs chiral doublet is different because its higgsino is chiral. For $H_u$, its contributions areThey have no compensating contribution from the Higgs complex scalar field. The higgsino in $H_d$ supplies precisely the negative of each coefficient. Opposite-hypercharge Higgs chiral doublets restore anomaly cancellation. The same pair restores an even number of weak fermion doublets, so the Witten SU(2) anomaly provides an additional check of the higgsino anomaly cancellation.

The independent reason is the holomorphic need for two Higgs chiral doublets. A superpotential is a holomorphic function of chiral superfields, so it cannot use a conjugate Higgs superfield to generate the missing Yukawa couplings. The ordinary Standard Model can use a Higgs scalar and its conjugate, but the MSSM needs distinct chiral superfields of both hypercharges. For example,where the dot contracts weak indices with the antisymmetric tensor. All three terms are gauge-invariant holomorphic functions. $H_u$ supplies up-type masses, while $H_d$ supplies down-type and charged-lepton masses. Replacing either by the conjugate of the other would violate the holomorphic closure of chiral superfields.

Write every fermion as a left-handed Weyl field. One Standard Model generation then haswith an optional neutral ${\nu }_R^c:(1,1{)}_0$. The purely colored anomaly vanishes becauseThe mixed non-Abelian-hypercharge coefficients areThe cubic hypercharge anomaly also cancels:as does the mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly,There is no perturbative cubic $SU(2)$ anomaly because its representations are pseudoreal. There are four left-handed weak doublets after counting the three colors of $Q_L$, so the global Witten SU(2) anomaly also vanishes. This proves Standard Model anomaly cancellation generation by generation.

The equality of proton and positron charges follows from the same constraints. Let the Higgs hypercharge be $Y_H=1/2$. Gauge-invariant Yukawa interactions implywhile cancellation of $[SU(2{)}_L{]}^{2}U(1{)}_Y$ gives $3Y_Q+Y_L=0$. Since electric charge is $Q=T^3+Y$,Thereforeshowing how anomaly cancellation, together with Yukawa gauge invariance and the normalization fixed by the neutral Higgs vacuum, enforces this instance of charge quantization.

An uncancelled gauge anomaly would make the quantum effective action vary along a gauge orbit. The resulting failure of the Ward-Takahashi identities and BRST symmetry prevents unphysical polarizations from decoupling, so the theory loses unitarity or renormalizability and cannot define a consistent gauge theory. An uncancelled mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly would similarly conflict with simultaneous gauge-current and stress-energy conservation. A global anomaly such as the Witten SU(2) anomaly would make the fermion determinant change sign under a large gauge transformation, so even the path integral would be ill defined.

Write every fermion as a left-handed Weyl field. One generation isThe perturbative anomaly coefficients vanish as follows:The common Dynkin-index factors have been suppressed in the mixed non-Abelian lines. An $SU(2{)}^3$ perturbative anomaly vanishes because the doublet is pseudoreal, while mixed anomalies containing one non-Abelian generator vanish because that generator is traceless. There are $3+1=4$ left-handed $SU(2)$ doublets after color multiplicity, so the nonperturbative Witten SU(2) anomaly also cancels. The gauge-singlet right-handed neutrino changes none of these sums.

Count every right-handed field as a left-handed conjugate, which reverses its $U(1)$ charge and conjugates its non-Abelian representation. The nontrivial local anomaly-cancellation conditions areThe pure $SU(3{)}^3$ anomaly cancels because the two triplets in $Q_L$ balance the conjugates of $u_R$ and $d_R$. There is no perturbative $SU(2{)}^3$ anomaly, and the Witten SU(2) anomaly also vanishes because the three colored quark doublets plus one lepton doublet make four. The mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly is excluded at this stage as requested.

There is no perturbative $SU(2)$ gauge anomaly because both the fundamental and adjoint representations are real or pseudoreal and have vanishing cubic gauge index. The Witten SU(2) anomaly also vanishes: the $N_f$ Dirac fermions give $2N_f$ fundamental Weyl doublets, an even number, while the adjoint Weyl fermion is in an integer-isospin real representation.