Gauge quantization for spin-32 fields

The free massless Rarita-Schwinger equation and a recently constructed interacting field theory known as supergravity are invariant under fermionic gauge transformations. Gauge field quantization techniques are applied in both cases. For the free field the Faddeev-Popov ansatz for the generating functional is justified by showing that it is equivalent to canonical quantization in a particular gauge. Propagators are obtained in several gauges and are shown to be ghost-free and causal. For supergravity the Faddeev-Popov ansatz is presented and the gauge fixing and determinant terms are discussed in detail in a Lorentz covariant gauge. The Slavnov-Taylor identity is obtained. It is argued that supergravity theory is free from the difficulty of acausal wave propagation of the type found by Velo and Zwanziger and that pole residues in tree approximation S-matrix elements are positive as required by unitarity.     

Supergravity supergraphs

We describe perturbation theory for supergravity in terms of superfields, using globally-supersymmetric gauge-breaking terms. In the more convinient gauges, the supergravity superfields are a real four-vector and a chiral scalar.     

Structure ofN=1 conformal and Poincaré supergravity in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions

We discuss a component formalism ofN=1 supergravity theories in 2 and 3 spacetime dimensions. Starting from gauge theories of the superconformal group, we derive the tensor calculus for conformal and Poincaré supergravity theories. A supersymmetric extension of the non-trivial analog of Einstein's equation for 2 dimensions is given in terms of the scalar curvature multiplet.     

Superspace geometry and N = 1 non-minimal supergravity

We investigate superspace geometry for supergravity with non-minimal auxilliary fields. We find that the kinematic constraints and the superspace Bianchi identities are sufficient to obtain complete component expansions of all superspace quantities, including the vielbein and connection superfields. We include a detailed pedagogical discussion on the analysis of constrained superspace Bianchi identities, demonstrating how these are used to derive component field content and transformation laws. We also note that local, chiral supersymmetry representations which form arbitrary representations of the Lorentz group can exist only within the context of supergravity with non-minimal auxilliary fields.     

Some remarks on the geometry of superspace supergravity

In this note, we first give a quick presentation of the supergeometry underlying supergravity theories, using an intrinsic differential geometric language. For this, we adopt the point of view of Cartan geometries, and rely as well on the work of John Lott, who has found a unified geometrical interpretation of the torsion constraints for many supergravity theories, based on the use of H-structures. In this framework, the constraints amount to requiring first-order integrability of H-structures, for a specific supergroup H.The supergroup H used by Lott is not the usual diagonal representation of the Lorentz group on superspace, but an extension of the latter. This extension appears to be natural and it can be related to the super-Poincaré group. We also observe that the constraints arising from the requirement of first-order integrability have basically the same form, in any spacetime dimension.Looking at supergravity from an affine viewpoint (i.e. as a gauge theory for the super-Poincaré group), we show that requiring first-order integrability amounts to requiring the equivalence, up to gauge transformations, between infinitesimal gauge supertranslations acting on the supervielbein and infinitesimal superdiffeomorphisms acting on the supervielbein.The latter action is performed through a covariant Lie derivative, whose expression involves naturally the supertorsion tensor. We use this expression to show that the term added to the spin connection, in the supercovariant derivative of d=11 supergravity, has a natural superspace origin. In particular, the 4-form field strength is related to a specific component of the supertorsion tensor.We conclude by some general remarks concerning Killing spinors in geometry and supergravity, discussing their possible interpretations, as Killing vector fields on a specific supermanifold on one hand, and as parallel spinors for an appropriate connection on the other hand. We show that this last interpretation is very natural from the point of view of Klein and Cartan geometries.     

Coupling the gauge-invariant supersymmetric non-linear sigma model to supergravity

The gauge-invariant supersymmetric non-linear sigma model is coupled to N = 1 supergravity. The results are expressed in the language of Kahler geometry. They lead to a deeper understanding of the connections between supergravity, R-invariance and the Fayet-Iliopoulos D-term. They also provide a foundation for phenomenological studies of supergravity theories.     

Supercovariant derivatives,super-Weyl groups,and N = 2 supergravity

We analyze the kinematic constraints for N = 2 Poincaré supergravity within the context of “superconformal symmetry breakdown”. We find that N = 2 supergravity is described in terms of two independent supertensors: W_αβij and T_αi. We also discuss general properties of superspace covariant derivatives to derive the relation of superspace to component approaches.     

Positive energy without supersymmetry

Witten's positive energy theorem and its generalizations can be viewed as stating that supersymmetric solutions of any supergravity theory are stable. In this paper we give a criterion to test the stability of non-supersymmetric solutions of supergravity theories and solutions of theories which cannot be embedded in a supergravity theory. Previously some of these solutions might have been considered to be unstable. In particular, we show that the non-supersymmetric stationary point of the scalar potential of the gauged N = 5 supergravity theory is stable. We also give an elegant derivation of the Breitenlohner-Freedman condition for (small fluctuation) stability.     

Supergravity with one auxiliary spinor

We present an “intermediate” off-shell version of N = 1 supergravity and its tensor calculus. The supergravity multiplet has 16 + 16 field components. The formulation can be constrained to either of the minimal ones with 12 + 12 components, or enlarge by matter couplings to several 20 + 20 component versions. Self-coupled to its own axial gauge submultiplet it leads to spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in the form first discussed by Freedman and to a propagating gauge field.     

Superstring-inspired supergravity as the universal source of inflation and quintessence

We prove (in superspace) the equivalence between the higher-derivative N=1$N=1$ supergravity, defined by a holomorphic function F of the chiral scalar curvature superfield, and the standard theory of a chiral scalar superfield with a chiral superpotential W, coupled to the (minimal) Poincaré supergravity in four spacetime dimensions. The relation between the holomorphic functions F and W is found. It can be used as the technical framework for the possible scenario unifying the early Universe inflation and the present Universe acceleration. We speculate on the possible origin of our model as the effective supergravity generated by quantum superstrings, with a dilaton–axion field as the leading field component of the chiral superfield.     

Structure of conformal supergravities in two dimensions

We examine constraints on curvatures inN=1 andN=2 conformal supergravities in two dimensions. We show that all curvatures should vanish in order that, the whole conformal supergravity algebra closes on all gauge fields. On the other hand we find some closed sub-algebra of the conformal supergravity one.     

Extended supergravity with local SO(5) invariance

We present a version of N = 5 supergravity with local SO(5) invariance and a lowest order calculation for N = 8 supergravity with local SO(8). The implications of these results and related aspects are discussed.     

Geometry of coset spaces and massless modes of the squashed seven-sphere in supergravity

We derive some general results for Killing vectors on arbitrary coset manifolds and explicitly exhibit the squashed seven-sphere as the coset space Sp₄×Sp₂/Sp₂×Sp₂. Using these results, we then analyze the zero-mass sector of supergravity of the squashed S⁷ and argue that it is not interpretable as a spontaneously broken version of N=8 supergravity. We also point out the existence of a new solution which combines squashing and torsion.     

Vanishing β-functions in extended supergravities

Given that extended supergravity theories can be written in N = 1 superfield form, the non-renormalization of chiral superspace integrals implies a vanishing β-function for the SO(N) gauged Poincaré supergravity theories for N ? 5 at one loop and probably to all orders. In particular, this explains the results of existing one-loop calculations of the β-function.     

On eleven-dimensional supergravity and Chern-Simons theory

We probe in some depth into the structure of eleven-dimensional, osp(32|1)-based Chern-Simons supergravity, as put forward by Troncoso and Zanelli (TZ) in 1997. We find that the TZ Lagrangian may be cast as a polynomial in 1/l, where l is a length, and compute explicitly the first three dominant terms. The term proportional to 1/l⁹ turns out to be essentially the Lagrangian of the standard 1978 supergravity theory of Cremmer, Julia and Scherk, thus establishing a previously unknown relation between the two theories. The computation is nontrivial because, when written in a sufficiently explicit way, the TZ Lagrangian has roughly one thousand non-explicitly Lorentz-covariant terms. Specially designed algebraic techniques are used to accomplish the results.     

On the origin of supergravity boundary terms in the AdS /CFT correspondence

The standard formulation of the AdS/CFT correspondence is incomplete since it requires adding to a supergravity action some a priori unknown boundary terms. We suggest a modification of the correspondence principle based on the Hamiltonian formulation of the supergravity action, which does not require any boundary terms. Then all the boundary terms of the standard formulation naturally appear by passing from the Hamiltonian version to the Lagrangian one. As examples the graviton part of the supergravity action on the product of AdS_d+1 with a compact Einstein manifold ϵ and fermions on AdS_d+1, are considered. We also discuss conformal transformations of gravity fields on the boundary of AdS and show that they are induced by the isometrics of AdS.     

Superspace geometry from D = 4, N = 1 heterotic superstrings

The presence of classical κ-supersymmetry invariance is shown to be consistent with an off-shell D = 4, N = 1 conformal supergravity background in the presence of a tensor multiplet. We derive a suitable set of constraints, via super Weyl rescaling, for a heterotic superstring in such a background. Starting from the geometry of 16-16 supergravity and gauging the R-symmetry with a composite connection, we derive a geometrical structure similar to that of new minimal supergravity.     

On the possibility of avoiding singularities by dilaton emission

We analyze the classical equations of supergravity theories containing a dilaton field, investigating the possibility that dilaton emission may prevent the formation of singularities. An initial cosmological singularity can be avoided in a no-scale supergravity theory if there is a nonzero charge density associated with the R symmetry current. However, this is only possible if some fields have negative metric initially, which may indicate a breakdown of the classical equations. A similar situation seems to occur with the Schwarzschild singularity.     

Zilch currents,supersymmetry and Kaluza-Klein consistency

We give a simple explanation for the fact that one can always perform a consistent truncation of a normal second-order Kaluza-Klein supergravity theory to the irreducible massless graviton supermulitplet. The basic reason for consistency is the highly restrictive requirement that massive fields of spins s⩾1 couple at lowest order to conserved currents constructed from field strengths of the massless fields. Inparticular, one understands in this way the consistency of the truncation of D=11 supergravity compactified on the seven-sphere to d=4, N=8 gauged supergravity.