A Superspace Formulation of the BV Action for Higher Derivative Gravity

In this paper we analyse a certain type of higher derivative gauge theories which are known to possess BRST symmetry associated with their higher derivative structure. We first show that these theories are also invariant under a anti-BRST symmetry and a double BRST symmetry. We then discuss the invariance of these theories under shift symmetry in the superspace Batalin Vilkovisky (BV) formalism. We show that these theories are manifestly extended BRST invariant. However they ...

We first analyze the anti-BRST and double BRST structures of a certain higher derivative theory that has been known to possess BRST symmetry associated with its higher derivative structure. We discuss the invariance of this theory under shift symmetry in the Batalin Vilkovisky (BV) formalism. We show that the action for this theory can be written in a manifestly extended BRST invariant manner in superspace formalism using one Grassmann coordinate. It can also be written in ...

We show that some higher derivative theories have a BRST symmetry. This symmetry is due to the higher derivative structure and is not associated to any gauge invariance. If physical states are defined as those in the BRST cohomology then the only physical state is the vacuum. All negative norm states, characteristic of higher derivative theories, are removed from the physical sector. As a consequence, unitarity is recovered but the S-matrix is trivial. We show that a class of...

We discuss the extended BRST and anti-BRST symmetry (including shift symmetry) in the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) formulation for two and three form gauge theories. Further we develop the superspace formulation for the BV actions for these theories. We show that the extended BRST invariant BV action for these theories can be written manifestly covariant manner in a superspace with one Grassmann coordinate. On the hand a superspace with two Grassmann coordinates are required for a...

We show that the BV (Batalin Vilkovisky) action, formulated with an extended BRST symmetry (including the shift symmetry), is also invariant under an extended anti-BRST transformation (where the antifields are the parameters of the transformation), when the gauge fixing Lagrangian is both BRST and anti-BRST invariant. We show that for a general gauge fixing Lagrangian, the BV action can be written in a manifestly extended BRST invariant manner in a superspace with one Grassma...

We survey on-shell and off-shell higher derivative supergravities in dimensions $1\le D\le 11$. Various approaches to their construction, including the Noether procedure, (harmonic) superspace, superform method, superconformal tensor calculus, $S$-matrix and dimensional reduction, are summarized. Primarily the bosonic parts of the invariants and the supertransformations of the fermionic fields are provided. The process of going on-shell, solutions to the Killing spinor equati...

This article, which is a review with substantial original material, is meant to offer a comprehensive description of the superfield representations of the BRST and anti-BRST algebras and their applications to some field-theoretic topics. After a review of the superfield formalism for gauge theories we present the same formalism for gerbes and diffeomorphism invariant theories. The application to diffeomorphisms leads, in particular, to a horizontal Riemannian geometry in the ...

In this Letter we consider the perturbative quantum gravity on the super-manifold which remains invariant under absolutely anticommuting BRST and anti-BRST transformations. In addition to that the theory posses one more symmetry known as shift symmetry. The BRST invariant Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) action for perturbative quantum gravity is realized as a translation in Grassmann coordinate. Further we show that the quantum master equation of the BV quantization method at one-loo...

We discuss the extended BRST and anti-BRST symmetry (including shift symmetry) in the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) formulation for the Chern-Simons (CS) theories in $(2+1)$ spacetime dimensions. Further we develop the superspace description of BV formulation for such theories. Interestingly, the extended BRST invariant CS theories can be described in superspace in covariant manner with the help of one more (Grassmann) coordinate. However, a superspace with two Grassmann coordinate...

An action for the higher-derivative corrections to minimal gauged supergravity in four dimensions has been recently proposed. We demonstrate that the supersymmetric solutions of this model are those of the two-derivative action, and investigate some of their properties. In particular, we prove a formula for the renormalised on-shell action in terms of contributions from fixed points of a $U(1)$ action, and confirm that it is invariant under deformations which preserve the bou...