Supersymmetric gauge theories in five and six dimensions

We investigate consistency conditions for supersymmetric gauge theories in higher dimensions. First, we give a survey of Seiberg's necessary conditions for the existence of such theories with simple groups in five and six dimensions. We then make some comments on how theories in different dimensions are related. In particular, we discuss how the Landau pole can be avoided in theories that are not asymptotically free in four dimensions, and the mixing of tensor and vector multiplets in dimensional reduction from six dimensions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.