The supersymmetric world : the beginnings of the theory

The story of the discovery of supersymmetry is a fascinating one, unlike that of any other major development in the history of science. This engaging book presents a view of the process, mainly in the words of people who participated. It combines anecdotal descriptions and personal reminiscences with more technical accounts of the trailblazers, covering the birth of the theory and its first years -- the origin of the idea, four-dimensional field theory realization, and supergravity. The eyewitnesses convey to us the drama of one of the deepest discoveries in theoretical physics in the 20th century. This book will be equally interesting and useful to young researchers in high energy physics and to mature scholars -- physicists and historians of science. CONTENTS; FOREWORD; The Predecessors; EARLY SUPERSYMMETRY ON THE PRAIRIE; THIRTY YEARS AGO; STRINGS AND THE ADVENT OF SUPERSYMMETRY: THE VIEW FROM PASADENA a; REMEMBERING THE EARLY TIMES OF SUPERSYMMETRY a; REMINISCENCES 1; Discovery of Supersymmetry in Four Dimensions; NOTES OF AN OLD GRADUATE STUDENTa; MY HUSBAND, MY LOVEa; LAST INTERVIEW WITH D.V. VOLKOVa; NONLINEAR WAY TO SUPERSYMMETRY; FROM SYMMETRY TO SUPERSYMMETRY a; Local Supersymmetry (Supergravity); THE SOURCES OF SUPERGRAVITY; SUPERGRAVITY AND THE QUEST FOR A UNIFIED THEORYa; The Pioneers; A GLIMPSE. RECOLLECTIONS OF A YOUNG CONTRIBUTORON SUPERPARTNERS AND THE ORIGINS OF SUPERSYMMETRIC STANDARD MODEL; SUPERSYMMETRIC HIGGS POTENTIALS; THE SUPERSYMMETRIC EFFECTIVE POTENTIAL; The Historical Perspective; REVEALING THE PATH TO THE SUPERWORLDa; NOTES ON THE CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERSYMMETRY a. My first postdoc started at NAL in September 1969, one of a group of five postdocs, with no senior theorists.