String Theory Origins of Supersymmetry

TL;DR

This paper explores the origins of supersymmetry in string theory, highlighting its development from early 2D world-sheet supersymmetry to the proof of spacetime supersymmetry, connecting it to four-dimensional supersymmetric field theories.

Contribution

It clarifies the historical and theoretical development linking string theory's world-sheet supersymmetry to four-dimensional spacetime supersymmetry, emphasizing key conjectures and proofs.

Findings

String theory's 2D world-sheet supersymmetry was foundational.

Spacetime supersymmetry of string theory was conjectured in 1976.

Green and myself proved the spacetime supersymmetry in 1981.

Abstract

The string theory introduced in early 1971 by Ramond, Neveu, and myself has two-dimensional world-sheet supersymmetry. This theory, developed at about the same time that Golfand and Likhtman constructed the four-dimensional super-Poincar\'e algebra, motivated Wess and Zumino to construct supersymmetric field theories in four dimensions. Gliozzi, Scherk, and Olive conjectured the spacetime supersymmetry of the string theory in 1976, a fact that was proved five years later by Green and myself.