Differential geometry on Grassmann algebras

Abstract

H. C. Lee [1] developed the analogue of Riemannian geometry on a real symplectic manifold — the fundamental skew two-form taking the place of the symmetric tensor. The usual Riemannian concepts do not adapt themselves very well, thus ‘curvature’ is represented by a tensor of the third rank and ‘Killing's equations’ now involve this ‘curvature tensor’. The immediate reason for this is that otherwise familiar terms appear with the wrong sign. We have found that these unaesthetic features disappear, and formal elegance is marvellously restored, when the manifold is replaced by a Grassmann algebra. The connection with supersymmetry is explained but applications are not reported here.