Non-renormalization theorems without supergraphs: the Wess-Zumino model

The non-renormalization theorems of chiral vertex functions are derived on the basis of an algebraic analysis. The property, that the interaction vertex is a second supersymmetry variation of a lower dimensional field monomial, is used to relate chiral Green functions to superficially convergent Green functions by extracting the two supersymmetry variations from an internal vertex and transforming them to derivatives acting on external legs. The analysis is valid in the massive as well as in the massless model and can be performed irrespective of properties of the superpotential at vanishing momentum. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.