ON GENERALIZED SELF-DUALITY EQUATIONS TOWARDS SUPERSYMMETRIC QUANTUM FIELD THEORIES OF FORMS

Abstract

We classify possible "self-duality" equations for p-form gauge fields in space–time dimension up to D=16, generalizing the pioneering work of Corrigan et al. (1982) on Yang–Mills fields (p=1) in 4<D≤8. We impose two crucial requirements. First, there should exist a 2(p+1)-form T-invariant under a subgroup H of SO D. Second, the representation for the SO D curvature of the gauge field must decompose under H in a relevant way. When these criteria are fulfilled, the "self-duality" equations can be candidates of gauge functions for SO D-covariant and H-invariant topological quantum field theories. Intriguing possibilities occur for D≥10 for various p-form gauge fields.