Spinor algebras

We consider supersymmetry algebras in space-times with arbitrary signature and minimal number of spinor generators. The interrelation between super Po incare and super conformal algebras is elucidated. Minimal super conformal algebras are seen to have as bosonic part a classical semisimple algebra na turally associated to the spin group. This algebra, the Spin(s, t)-algebra, depends both on the dimension and on the signature of space-time. We also consider maximal super conformal algebras, which are classified by the orth osymplectic algebras. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.