GENERALIZED GAUGE TRANSFORMATIONS AND HIDDEN SYMMETRY IN THE STANDARD MODEL

A recently proposed, new construction of the Standard Model based on the graded Lie algebra SU (2|1) is analyzed in some depth. The essential ingredient is an algebraic superconnection which incorporates both the gauge fields and the Higgs fields and whose curvature automatically leads to a spontaneously broken realization of the theory. The mechanism of hiding the original algebraic structure is unorthodox and is due to the specific, "noncommutative" realization of SU (2|1). The model is characterized by a constant background supercurvature which is invariant under arbitrary, constant SU (2|1) gauge transformations. This background field whose effect is analogous to the action of a consta…