Superfields, nilpotent superfields and superschemes

Abstract

We interpret superfields in a functorial formalism that explains the properties that are assumed for them in the physical applications. The starting point of this research was the need to understand in a sound mathematical framework some algebraic constraints imposed on them, but it lead us to revise the very definition of superfield. The constraints that we investigate in the present work give rise to superschemes that, generically, are not regular, that is, they do not define a standard supermanifold.