Conformal Invariance, N-extended Supersymmetry and Massless Spinning Particles in Anti-de Sitter Space

TL;DR

This paper derives a conformally invariant model for massless spinning particles in anti-de Sitter space, revealing extended supersymmetry and gauge invariances, and clarifies the relationship between supersymmetry and spacetime backgrounds.

Contribution

It introduces a new conformal mechanics model that extends previous work by incorporating $N$-extended supersymmetry in anti-de Sitter space, challenging earlier limitations.

Findings

The model exhibits both gauge $N$-extended supersymmetry and local $O(N)$ invariance.

Supersymmetry transformations do not commute with conformal transformations despite $O(d,2)$ invariance.

The approach generalizes spinning particle models to curved anti-de Sitter backgrounds.

Abstract

Starting with a manifestly conformal ($O(d,2)$ invariant) mechanics model in $d$ space and 2 time dimensions, we derive the action for a massless spinning particle in $d$-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. The action obtained possesses both gauge $N$-extended worldline supersymmetry and local $O(N)$ invarince. Thus we improve the old statement by Howe et al. that the spinning particle model with extended worldline supersymmetry admits only flat space-time background for $N > 2$ (spin greater one). The original $(d+2)$-dimensional model is characterized by rather unusual property that the corresponding supersymmetry transformations do not commute with the conformal ones, in spite of the explicit $O(d,2)$ invariance of the action.