N-fold supersymmetry in quantum mechanics:: general formalism

We report general properties of N-fold supersymmetry in one-dimensional quantum mechanics. N-fold supersymmetry is characterized by supercharges which are Nth polynomials of momentum. Relations between the anti-commutator of the supercharges and the Hamiltonian, the spectra, the Witten index, the non-renormalization theorems and the quasi-solvability are examined. We also present further investigation about a particular class of N-fold supersymmetric models which we dubbed type A. Algebraic equations which determine a part of spectra of type A models are presented, and the non-renormalization theorem are generalized. Finally, we present a possible generalization of N-fold supersymmetry in multi-dimensional quantum mechanics. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.