Editing Moduli (physics) (section)

{{Short description|Space of vacuum states}}
In [[quantum field theory]], the term '''moduli''' ({{singular}}: '''modulus'''; more properly '''moduli fields''') is sometimes used to refer to [[scalar field]]s whose potential energy function has continuous families of global minima.  Such potential functions frequently occur in [[supersymmetry|supersymmetric]] systems.  The term "modulus" is borrowed from mathematics (or more specifically, [[moduli space]] is borrowed from [[algebraic geometry]]), where it is used synonymously with "parameter".  The word moduli (''Moduln'' in German) first appeared in 1857 in [[Bernhard Riemann]]'s celebrated paper "Theorie der Abel'schen Functionen".<ref name=dist>{{cite journal |first1=Bernhard |last1=Riemann |journal=Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik |volume=54 |date=1857 |pages=101–155 
| title = Theorie der Abel'schen Functionen
| url = http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Riemann/AbelFn/}}</ref>