Massive 4D Abelian 2-form theory: Nilpotent symmetries from the (anti-)chiral superfield approach

Abstract

The off-shell nilpotent and absolutely anticommuting (anti-)BRST symmetries are obtained by using the (anti-)chiral superfield approach (ACSA) to Becchi–Rouet–Stora–Tyutin (BRST) formalism for the four [Formula: see text]-dimensional (4D) Stückelberg-modified massive Abelian 2-form gauge theory. We perform exactly similar kind of exercise for the derivation of the off-shell nilpotent (anti-)co-BRST symmetry transformations, too. In the above derivations, the symmetry invariant restrictions on the superfields play very important and decisive roles. To prove the sanctity of the above nilpotent symmetries, we generalize our 4D ordinary theory (defined on the 4D flat Minkowskian space–time manifold) to its counterparts [Formula: see text]-dimensional (anti-)chiral super-submanifolds of the [Formula: see text]-dimensional supermanifold which is parametrized by the superspace coordinates [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] are the bosonic coordinates and a pair of Grassmannian variables [Formula: see text] are fermionic: [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] in nature. One of the novel observations of our present endeavor is the derivation of the Curci–Ferrari (CF)-type restrictions from the requirement of the symmetry invariance of the coupled (but equivalent) Lagrangian densities of our theory within the framework of ACSA to BRST formalism. We also exploit the standard techniques of ACSA to capture the off-shell nilpotency and absolute anticommutativity of the conserved (anti-)BRST as well as the conserved (anti-)co-BRST charges. In a subtle manner, the proof of the absolute anticommutativity of the above conserved charges also implies the existence of the appropriate CF-type restrictions on our theory. This proof is also a novel result.