New bi-harmonic superspace formulation of 4D, $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 SYM theory
Abstract We develop a novel bi-harmonic $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 superspace formulation of the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM) in four dimensions. In this approach, the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 SYM superfield constraints are solved in terms of on-shell $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 harmonic superfields. Such an approach provides a convenient tool of constructing the manifestly $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 supersymmetric invariants and further rewriting them in $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 harmonic superspace. In particular, we present $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 superfield form of the leading term in the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 SYM effective action which was known previously in $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 superspace formulation.