Superfield formalism for the one loop effective action and CP(N) model in three dimensions

Abstract

To obtain the one loop effective action for a given superfield theory, one encounters the notion such as the `supertrace' of a differential operator on superspace. We develop, in a systematic way for the superspace of arbitrary dimension, a method to determine the supertrace precisely. We present a formula to express the supertrace explicitly as the superspace integral, which enables us to write the one loop effective action within the superfield formalism and still maintain the manifest supersymmetry. In the second part of the paper, we apply the result to a three dimensional N=1 supersymmetric CP(N) model in the auxiliary superfield formalism. The model contains a novel topological interaction term. We show in the large N limit the one loop effective action is given by the supersymmetric Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory.