Superspace higher derivative terms in two dimensions

Abstract We study (2, 2) and (4, 4) supersymmetric theories with superspace higher derivatives in two dimensions. A characteristic feature of these models is that they have several different vacua, some of which break supersymmetry. Depending on the vacuum, the equations of motion describe different propagating degrees of freedom. Various examples are presented which illustrate their generic properties. As a by-product we see that these new vacua give a dynamical way of generating non-linear realizations. In particular, our 2D (4, 4) example is the dimensional reduction of a 4D N = 2 model, and gives a new way for the spontaneous breaking of extended supersymmetry