Dirac quantization in superspace

Abstract

We extend the method of Dirac quantization to superspace. We study simple models like the supersymmetric quantum mechanics as well as the supersymmetric nonlinear \ensuremath{\sigma} model in 1+1 dimensions. Although in both these cases the matrix representing the Poisson brackets between the constraints is singular, we show, following the spirit of Dirac, that one can still define Dirac brackets and that the resulting quantization is consistent with those of the component fields.