Higher order contributions to the effective action of N=4 super Yang-Mills

TL;DR

This paper computes the one-loop low-energy effective action for non-Abelian N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory up to order F^6, providing results relevant for string theory comparisons.

Contribution

It presents the first calculation of the effective action to order F^6 using heat kernel techniques in N=1 superspace, extending previous lower-order analyses.

Findings

F^5 terms match non-Abelian Born-Infeld action

F^6 terms are derived for the first time

Results facilitate comparison with superstring calculations

Abstract

The one-loop low-energy effective action for non-Abelian N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory is computed to order $F^6$ by use of heat kernel techniques in N=1 superspace. At the component level, the $F^5$ terms are found to be consistent with the form of the non-Abelian Born-Infeld action computed to this order by superstring methods. The $F^6$ terms will be of importance for comparison with superstring calculations.