Paragrassmann differential calculus (Q1326830)

If one proceeds from the traditional Fermi and Bose statistics to exotic statistics (that emerge, for example, in two-dimensional conformal field theory or in topological quantum field theory), it means, as far as mathematical foundations of theory are concerned, that the rôle played by Grassmann algebras in supergeometry and superanalysis is taken over by the so-called paragrassmann algebras. (Though it appears that there is no uniformly accepted concept of a paragrassmann algebra as yet.) The paper under review suggests an extension of differential calculus in Grassmann algebras to the paragrassmann case. A paragrassmann algebra \(\Gamma_{p+1} (N)\), as defined in the paper, is freely generated by \(N\) generators \(\partial^ j \theta_ i\), \(\theta_ i \partial^ j\), \(i = 1,\dots, N\), \(j = 1,\dots, p\) modulo the nilpotency relations \(\theta_ i^{p + 1} = 0\), \(\partial^{p + 1} \equiv 0\), and also the requirement for \(\partial \theta\) to form a linear combination of the elements \(\theta^ i \partial^ i\), \(i = 1,2,\dots, p\), reflecting the normal ordering rule. Every choice of particular complex coefficients in the latter decomposition leads to a separate version of the paragrassmann differential calculus even in the case of a single generator \(\theta\), and the authors discuss six of such versions, the realizations of the corresponding paragrassmann algebras, and their relevance to physical theories. Some explicit realizations are also proposed for paragrassmann algebras with many generators. The authors discuss an (at least, a formal) similarity between the commutation relations for paragrassmann algebras and those emerging in quantum group theory. The level of rigour is formal and rather typical for earlier studies in superanalysis; however, since authors only wish to discuss the generalised Leibniz rule, a more sophisticated geometric space setting seems at this stage unnecessary.