N = 2, D = 10 non-chiral supergravity and its spontaneous compactification

The non-chiral N = 2, D = 10 supergravity theory is constructed using dimensional reduction from N = 1, D = 11 supergravity. It is shown that this theory may spontaneously compactify, yielding S⁴ × S², CP² × S² and S² × S² × S² spaces for the extra dimensions.     

The complete N =2, d = 10 supergravity

The alternative N = 2, d = 10 supergravity, which is not derivable by dimensional reduction from the N = 1, d = 11 theory, is constructed at the full non-linear level. The transformation laws of the component fields and the equations of motion are derived and shown to be consistent. The derivation makes use of superspace techniques and exploits the fact that the scalars belong to the coset space SU(1,1)/U(1).     

N = 2 supergravity action in terms of N = 1 superfields

We construct the full N = 2 supergravity action in terms of N = 1 supergravity and matter fields.     

N = 8 supergravity

The complete structure of N = 8 supergravity is presented with an optional local SO(8) invariance. The SO(8) gauge interactions break E₇ invariance, but leave the local SU(8) unaffected. Exploiting E₇ × SU(8) invariance and using explicit lowest order results, we first derive the complete action and transformation laws. Subsequently, we introduce local SO(8) invariance and prove the consistency of the theory. Possible implications of our results are discussed.     

A monopole in N = 8 supergravity

An explicit ansatz for a monopole in N = 8 supergravity is constructed. The monopole mass is estimated by extremizing an energy functional, whose positive definite character is guaranteed by a positive energy theorem.     

N = 1 supergravity in the light-cone gauge

N = 1 supergravity is studied in a light-cone gauge. The non-linear transformations and the hamiltonian are constructed to order K in the coupling constant as a realization of the super-Poicaré algebra. The only input except the algebraic structure is the helicity content ($\text{±2, ±}\text{3}\text{2}$) and the dimensionality of the coupling constant.     

Noncompact N=2 supergravity

A massive spin-one multiplet with central charge is coupled to N=2 supergravity. Compared to conventional gauge fields the anomalous magnetic moment of the spin-one particles is of the opposite sign. The construction of this theory is based on an N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory associated with the noncompact group SO(2,1). As a byproduct we present a convenient expression for the N=2 Einstein-Yang-Mills lagrangian.     

Linearized N = 2 superfield supergravity

We present the formulation of linearized SU(2) supergravity and U(2) conformal supergravity in terms of unconstrained N = 2 superfields: the gauge superfield, compensating superfields, gauge transformations, supertensors, actions and covariant derivatives.     

Black holes in N=8 supergravity

Solutions of the bosonic field equations of the ungauged, N=8 supergravity which describe black holes with no scalar hairs are obtained. It is found that, in contrast to the Einstein-Maxwell theory where a uniqueness theorem exists, there are two distinct families of black holes in N=8 supergravity. There are also two distinct generalizations of Majumdar-Papapertrou solutions which describe the static equilibrium of many black holes.     

Magnetovacs in gauged N = 4 supergravity

A two-parameter family of supersymmetric background field solutions of the recently formulated version of gauged N = 4 supergravity is found. This constitutes strong evidence that the theory has stable vacua, despite energy densities that are unbounded below. The background geometries are metric products of (AdS)₂ × S₂, and there are covariantly constant magnetic and electric fields. For a special choice of parameters the (AdS)₂ factor becomes a flat Minkowski space and electric fields vanish.     

Dynamical supersymmetry breaking in two-dimensional N = 1 supergravity theories

We investigate a possible dynamical mechanism for spontaneous supersymmetrybreaking in N = 1 supergravity theories in 1 + 1 space-time dimensions. It will be shown that supersymmetry is never broken at the tree level, but it can be broken for a certain class of models by quantum effects due to trace anomalies of the energy-momentum tensor and the supercurrent.     

Bound states in N = 8 supergravity and N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories

We present a study of possible bound states in N = 8 supergravity. We find evidence for the existence of multiplets of two-body bound states and expect that many-body bound states may exist as well. Our study is based on a calculation of Regge trajectories in the two-body scattering amplitudes of the lagrangian field theory. We also study Regge trajectories in N = 4 Yang-Mills theory and find evidence for a possible spin zero, SU(4) and gauge singlet, massless bound state. If such a state actually exists and supersymmetry is not broken, it may be a member of a supersymmetric multiplet which includes the graviton.     

N = 4 supergravity coupled to N = 4 matter and hidden symmetries

We present the N = 1 supergravity in 10 dimensions obtained by truncating the reduced N = 1 supergravity from 11 dimensions. This is further reduced to 4 dimensions to give SU(4) supergravity coupled to six SO(4) vector multiplets. As the reduction is from 10 dimensions, the theory is expected to have the symmetry SL(6R)_global×SO(6)_local, but we give a theoretical argument that this can be extended to SO(6,6)×SU(1,1)_global and SO(6)×SO(6)×U(1)_local.     

On the non-minimal versions of linearized N=1 supergravity

We present the only two other irreducible sets of auxiliary fields (without high spin auxiliary fields) for N=1 supergravity. Each contains 20 + 20 degrees of freedom.     

Conformal and poincaré tensor calculi in N=1 supergravity

We present the superconformal tensor calculus for N=1 supergravity in a complete form; irreducible multiplets, their multiplication and embedding formulae and invariant action formulae. It is further clarified in detail how the various versions of N=1 Poincaré supergravity (i.e. with different sets of auxiliary fields) are reproduced from the unique superconformal theory. The tensor calculi for all the known versions of Poincaré supergravity are derived explicitly.     

Linearized superfield formulation of the new minimal N = 1 supergravity

A superfield version of the new minimal N = 1 Poincaré supergravity, recently proposed by Sohnius and West in components, is given at the linearized level. The action and corresponding supercurrent are obtained from an analysis of the superspace-translation tensor in a special case. Linearized torsions and curvatures can be computed in terms of the prepotentials.     

The improved tensor multiplet in N = 2 supergravity

We construct a scale-invariant action for the N = 2 tensor multiplet which can be coupled to conformal supergravity. In spite of its non-polynomial form the action describes a free massless hypermultiplet. When used as a compensating multiplet it leads to a new minimal formulation of N = 2 Poincaré or de Sitter supergravity. We discuss its consequences and present a comparison with previous off-shell formulations.     

Group manifold first-order formulation of N=2, d=4 supergravity theory

In this paper, the so far lacking first-order formulation of N = 2 supergravity is obtained in the group manifold rheonomic symmetry approach. In order for the theory to be non-trivial it must contain, besides the pseudoconnection, also a 0-form matter multiplet which, moreover, provides the mechanism to generate the spin-l field kinetic term. It is explicitly shown how the O(2)～U(1) symmetry is realized not by a linear gauge transformation, rather by a rheonomic one.