Supersymmetry in Field Theory

Abstract

Supersymmetric theories are reviewed in the context of field theories. The gauge hierarchy problem in attempting the unification of all fundamental interactions is the strongest motivation of modern development of supersymmetry. Starting from the general notion of supersymmetry as a symmetry between bosons and fermions, we explain how the supersymmetry becomes a part of the space-time symmetry if we wish to maintain the relativisitic invariance. The precise idea of supersymmetry is then introduced and the supersymmetric field theories are formulated. There has been a significant breakthrough in the study of nonperturbative effects in supersymmetric field theories using the holomorphy and symmetry arguments. Some of these ideas and results are briefly reviewed.