2025/08/07 by Borsten, Leron, Jonsson, Simon, Kanakaris, Dimitri +1 · 2 citations
#17B81 (Primary) #81T12 (Secondary) #81T50 #81T60 #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2508.05134
Twisting and classical background fields are two foundational techniques in supersymmetric quantum field theory, central to developments ranging from the Higgs mechanism to topological twisting and supersymmetric localisation. While traditionally treated as distinct procedures, they appear on an equal footing in the homotopy-algebraic approach to quantum field theory. In this work, we formalise this connection by interpreting both twisting and the introduction of classical backgrounds as instances of twisting curved quantum L_∞-superalgebras. Using the language of homotopy algebras and the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, we provide a unified algebraic framework that encompasses topological/holomorphic twists, spontaneous symmetry breaking, computation of anomalies, and supersymmetric localisation à la Festuccia--Seiberg. As a byproduct, we introduce a notion of twisting for quantum L_∞-algebras and a homotopy-algebraic reformulation of the one-particle-irreducible effective action.