Structure of supergravity theories

An introduction to and a partial review of supergravity theories is given, insisting on concepts and on some important technical aspects. Topics covered include elements of global supersymmetry, a derivation of the simplest N=1 supergravity theory, a discussion of N=1 matter-supergravity couplings, of the scalar sector and of some simple models. Space-time is four-dimensional.

These lectures present an introduction to supergravity, and are intended for graduate students with a working knowledge of quantum field theory, including the elementary group theory needed for it, but no prior knowledge of general relativity, supersymmetry or string theory is assumed. I will start by introducing the needed elements of general relativity and supersymmetry. I will then describe the simplest cases of supergravity, ${\cal N}=1$ on-shell in 4 dimensions and ${\ca...

These five lectures collect elementary facts about 4D supersymmetric theories with emphasis on N=1 supersymmetry, as well as the basic notions of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. Contents: I. From symmetries to supersymmetry; II. Basic features of supersymmetry; III. Representations of supersymmetry; IV. Superspace and superfields; V. Supersymmetric quantum mechanics.

Supergravities in four and higher dimensions are reviewed. We discuss the action and its local symmetries of N=1 supergravity in four dimensions, possible types of spinors in various dimensions, field contents of supergravity multiplets, non-compact bosonic symmetries, non-linear sigma models, duality symmetries of antisymmetric tensor fields and super p-branes. (An expanded version of a review talk at YITP workshop on Supersymmetry, 27 - 30 March, 1996)

This text is a short but comprehensive introduction to the basics of supergeometry and includes some of the recent advances in colored supergeometry. We do not aim for a standard text that states results and proves them more or less rigorously, but all too often offers little insight to the uninformed reader. Instead we opted for a smooth exposition of the successive themes, choosing an order and an approach which are close to the way these pieces of mathematics could have be...

We develop classical globally supersymmetric theories. As much as possible, we treat various dimensions and various amounts of supersymmetry in a uniform manner. We discuss theories both in components and in superspace. Throughout we emphasize geometric aspects. The beginning chapters give a general discussion about supersymmetric field theories; then we move on to detailed computations of lagrangians, etc. in specific theories. An appendix details our sign conventions. This ...

A short introduction to N = 1 supergravity in four dimensions in the superspace approach is given emphasising on all steps to obtain the final Lagrangian. In particular starting from geometrical principles and the introduction of superfields in curved superspace, the action coupling matter and gauge fields to supergravity is derived. This review is based on the book -A supergravity Primer: From geometrical principles to the Final Lagrangian- and on several lectures given at t...

In this contribution, we present the geometric approach to supergravity. In the first part, we discuss in some detail the peculiarities of the approach and apply the formalism to the case of pure supergravity in four space-time dimensions. In the second part, we extend the discussion to theories in higher dimensions, which include antisymmetric tensors of degree higher than one, focussing on the case of eleven dimensional space-time. Here, we report the formulation first intr...

The text is an essentially self-contained introduction to four-dimensional N=1 supergravity, including its couplings to super Yang-Mills and chiral matter multiplets, for readers with basic knowledge of standard gauge theories and general relativity. Emphasis is put on showing how supergravity fits in the general framework of gauge theories and how it can be derived from a tensor calculus for gauge theories of a standard form. Contents: 1. Introduction, 2. Gauge symmetries in...

We present a short overview of the structure and couplings of supergravity theories at the component level. We do so with as little technical machinery as possible, working directly with the physical on-shell fields and using explicit computations and geometrical reasoning to arrive at the result, highlighting the new properties of supersymmetry in the context of a gravitational theory.