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Supersymmetry feels like a discrete symmetry to me, since the fermions are turning into bosons, and vice versa. I understand there is an infinitesimal parameter involved in the transformations, but I don't know what it actually determines physically.

Qmechanic
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user45757
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1 Answers1

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  1. A super-Poincare algebra is a Lie superalgebra, whose elements are generators for a Lie supergroup, and therefore formally corresponds to a continuous symmetry.

    Of course the elephant in the room is the elusive nature of Grassmann-odd numbers, cf. this related Phys.SE post and links therein.

  2. A super-charge $Q$ belongs to the super-Poincare algebra and takes bosons into fermions, and vice-versa.

    Very oversimplified (i.e. ignoring the Grassmann-nature), $Q$ acts like a raising or lowering operator, which gives it a discrete feel, cf. OP's question. Think e.g. of $su(2)$-irreps with a discrete $m$ quantum number, such as in the isospin symmetry, which is also a continuous symmetry.

Qmechanic
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