Higher-order string effective actions and off-shell d=4 supergravity
Filipe Moura
备注：
Prepared for School on Attractor Mechanism - SAM2007, Frascati, Italy, 18-22 June 2007. 35 pages. v2: Title changed. Added a section on applications to black hole physics. Published version
We start by a concise yet thorough revision of four-dimensional superspace supergravity. We present curved superspace geometry, for arbitrary N, including torsion, curvature and Bianchi identities. We motivate the choice of torsion constraints. We then consider the particular cases of N=1,2. In both cases we show how Poincare supergravity can be obtained from conformal supergravity. We see how to obtain the different versions of the Poincare off-shell theory, with distinct compensating multiplets and sets of auxiliary fields. For those versions of N=1,2 supergravities known as "old minimal", we present the solutions to the Bianchi identities, their field content and we show how to write superspace actions for these theories and their extensions using chiral densities and chiral projectors. As concrete applications, we study the supersymmetrization of the two possible R^4 terms in d=4, which are both required as string corrections to supergravity. We conclude by discussing possible applications of these results to open problems on black holes in string theory.
Using N=2 off-shell supergravity in five dimensions, we supersymmetrize the brane world scenario of Randall and Sundrum. We extend their construction to include supersymmetric matter at the fixpoints.
We develop the superspace geometry of N-extended conformal supergravity in three space-time dimensions. General off-shell supergravity-matter couplings are constructed in the cases N=1,2,3,4.
We discuss $N=2\to N=1$ reduction in four dimensional conformal supergravity. In particular, we keep the off-shell structure of supermultiplets (except hypermultiplets). As we will show, starting with (almost) off-shell conformal supergravity makes the procedure simpler than that from $N=2$ Poincaré supergravity, which makes it easier to show the correspondence to the standard $N=1$ conformal supergravity. We find that the $N=1$ superconformal symmetry is simply realized by truncating the gravitino multiplet. We also discuss the consistency with the original $N=2$ system and show the reduced $…
We formulate a unimodular N=1, d=4 supergravity theory off shell. We see that the infinitesimal Grassmann parameters defining the unimodular supergravity transformations are constrained and show that the conmutator of two infinitesinal unimodular supergravity transformations closes on transverse diffeomorphisms, Lorentz transformations and unimodular supergravity transformations. Along the way, we also show that the linearized theory is a supersymmetric theory of gravitons and gravitinos. We see that de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes are non-supersymmetric vacua of our unimodular supergr…
We construct the on-shell double copy for linearised four-dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity coupled to one vector multiplet with a quadratic prepotential. We apply this dictionary to the weak-field approximation of dyonic BPS black holes in this theory.
We show that the covariant effective action for M5-brane is a solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi (H-J) equations of 11-dimensional supergravity. The solution to the H-J equations reproduces the supergravity solution that represents the M2-M5 bound states.
We generalize previous works on the Dirac eigenvalues as dynamical variables of the Euclidean gravity and N=1 D=4 supergravity to on-shell N=2 D=4 Euclidean supergravity. The covariant phase space of the theory is defined as as the space of the solutions of the equations of motion modulo the on-shell gauge transformations. In this space we define the Poisson brackets and compute their value for the Dirac eigenvalues.
Utilizing the known off-shell formulation of 2D, N = (2,2) supergravity, containing a finite number of auxiliary fields, there is shown to exist a simple form for a 'chiral projection operator' and an explicit expression for it is given.
We demonstrate that in addition to the usual fourth-rank superfield $(W_{a b c d})$ which describes the on-shell theory, a spinor superfield $(J_\a )$ can be introduced into the 11D geometrical tensors with engineering dimensions less or equal to one in such a way to satisfy the Bianchi identities in superspace. The components arising from $J_\a$ are identified as some of the auxiliary fields required for a full off-shell formulation. Our result indicates that eleven dimensional supergravity does not have to be completely on-shell. The $\k\-$symmetry of the supermembrane action in the presence…
We define recursion relations for N = 8 supergravity amplitudes using a generalization of the on-shell diagrams developed for planar N = 4 super-Yang-Mills. Although the recursion relations generically give rise to non-planar on-shell diagrams, we show that at tree-level the recursion can be chosen to yield only planar diagrams, the same diagrams occurring in the planar N = 4 theory. This implies non-trivial identities for non-planar diagrams as well as interesting relations between the N = 4 and N = 8 theories. We show that the on-shell diagrams of N = 8 supergravity obey equivalence relation…
We use the superconformal method to construct the full off-shell action of N=(1,0), D=6 supergravity, which has apart from the graviton and the gravitino, a 2-form gauge field, a dilaton and a symplectic Majorana spinor. We give detailed formula for superconformal expressions that can be useful for extensions of the theory to more matter multiplets or gauged supergravity.
We present the action and transformation rules of Poincare supergravity coupled to chiral multiplets $(z^α, χ^α, h^α)$ with off-shell auxiliary fields. Starting from the geometric formulation of the superconformal theory with auxiliary fields, we derive the Poincare counterpart by gauge-fixing the Weyl and chiral symmetry and S-supersymmetry. We show how this transition is facilitated by retaining explicit target-space covariance. Our results form a convenient starting point to study models with constrained superfields, including general matter-coupled de Sitter supergravity.
We review a construction, using the harmonic space method, of solutions to the superfield equations of motion for N-extended self-dual supergravity theories. A superspace gauge condition suitable for the performance of a component analysis is discussed.
We present some multiplets of N=2 off-shell supergravity in five dimensions. One is the Super Yang-Mills multiplet, another one is the linear multiplet. The latter one is used to establish a general action formula from which we derive an action for the Super Yang-Mills multiplet. The Super Yang-Mills multiplet is used to construct the nonlinear multiplet with gauged SU(2). This nonlinear multiplet and the action formula for the Yang-Mills multiplet enable us to write down an SU(2) gauged supergravity which we finally truncate to arrive at gauged supergravity with gauge group SO(2).
We discuss various aspects of rigid supersymmetry within minimal N=1 off-shell supergravity using the old and new minimal formulations both in Lorentzian and Euclidean signatures. In particular, we construct all rigid supersymmetry backgrounds with a hypersurface orthogonal Killing vector. In the Lorentzian signature we show that AdS_4 provides a rigid supersymmetric background in both formulations albeit with different amounts of preserved supersymmetry. In the Euclidean signature we find new backgrounds of the old-minimal supergravity, including squashed four-spheres and a half-BPS version o…
We construct a new off-shell invariant in N=2, D=5 supergravity whose leading term is the square of the Riemann tensor. It contains a gravitational Chern-Simons term involving the vector field that belongs to the supergravity multiplet. The action is obtained by mapping the transformation rules of a spin connection with bosonic torsion and a set of curvatures to the fields of the Yang-Mills multiplet with gauge group SO(4,1). We also employ the circle reduction of an action that describes locally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in six dimensions.
We use the superconformal method to construct a new formulation for pure off-shell D=5, N=2 Poincaré supergravity and present its internal gauging. The main difference between the traditional formulation and our new formulation is the choice of the Dilaton Weyl Multiplet as the background Weyl Multiplet and the choice of a Linear compensating Multiplet. We do not introduce an external vector multiplet to gauge the theory, but instead use the internal vector of the Dilaton Weyl Multiplet. We show that the corresponding on-shell theory is Einstein-Maxwell supergravity. We believe that this gaugi…
Using the off-shell formulation for N-extended conformal supergravity in three dimensions, which has recently been presented in arXiv:1305.3132, we construct superspace actions for conformal supergravity theories with N<6. For each of the cases considered, we work out the complete component action as well as the gauge transformation laws of the fields belonging to the Weyl supermultiplet. The N=1 and N=2 component actions derived coincide with those proposed by van Nieuwenhuizen and Rocek in the mid-1980s. The off-shell N=3, N=4 and N=5 supergravity actions are new results. Upon elimination of…
We revisit the construction of N=2 superconformal multiplets using rheonomic superspace techniques. We apply the result to the derivation of off-shell Poincaré supersymmetric models where a tensor multiplet couples to gravity and to an arbitrary number of vector multiplets. We also analyze gaugings involving the tensor field.
The stability of the shell of wrapped D6-branes on K3 is investigated from the point of view of supergravity. We first construct an effective energy-momentum tensor for the shell under the reasonable conditions and show that supersymmetric solutions satisfy Israel's junction conditions at arbitrary radius of the shell. Next we study the perturbation of the whole system including the self-gravity of the shell. It is found that in spite of the existence of wrapped D6-branes with negative tension, there is no eigenmode whose frequencies of the shell and the fields are imaginary numbers, at any ra…
Deser-Zumino supergravity action for the graviton and gravitino pair, in four dimensions is deduced from the Nambu-Goto string action of the 26 dimension using the Principle of Equivalence.
Three-String junctions are allowed configurations in II B string theory which preserve one-fourth supersymmetry. We obtain the 11-dimensional supergravity solution for curved membranes corresponding to these three-string junctions.
We study N=2 supergravity deformed by a genuine supersymmetric completion of the $λR^4$ term, using the underlying off shell N=2 superconformal framework. The gauge-fixed superconformal model has unbroken local supersymmetry of N=2 supergravity with higher derivative deformation. Elimination of auxiliary fields leads to the deformation of the supersymmetry rules as well as to the deformation of the action, which becomes a Born-Infeld with higher derivative type action. We find that the gravitino supersymmetry deformation starts from $λ\, \pa^4 {\cal F}^3$ and has higher graviphoton couplings. …
We derive an on-shell diagram recursion for tree-level scattering amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=7$ supergravity. The diagrams are evaluated in terms of Grassmannian integrals and momentum twistors, generalising previous results of Hodges in momentum twistor space to non-MHV amplitudes. In particular, we recast five and six-point NMHV amplitudes in terms of $\mathcal{N}=7$ R-invariants analogous to those of $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills, which makes cancellation of spurious poles more transparent. Above 5-points, this requires defining momentum twistors with respect to different orderings of th…
Conformal supergravity arises in presently known formulations of twistor-string theory either via closed strings or via gauge-singlet open strings. We explore this sector of twistor-string theory, relating the relevant string modes to the particles and fields of conformal supergravity. We also use the twistor-string theory to compute some tree level scattering amplitudes with supergravitons, and compare to expectations from conformal supergravity. Since the supergravitons interact with the same coupling constant as the Yang-Mills fields, conformal supergravity states will contribute to loop am…
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Supergravity with eight supercharges in a four-dimensional Euclidean space is constructed at the full non-linear level by performing an off-shell time-like reduction of five-dimensional supergravity. The resulting four-dimensional theory is realized off-shell with the Weyl, vector and tensor supermultiplets and a corresponding multiplet calculus. Hypermultiplets are included as well, but they are themselves only realized with on-shell supersymmetry. The off-shell reduction leads to a full understanding of the Euclidean theory. A complete multiplet calculus is presented along the lines of the M…
We discuss the connection between Matrix string theory and the DLCQ of string theory. Using this connection we describe the sense in which perturbative string amplitudes are reproduced in the Matrix string theory. Using recent realization of the connection between SYM and Supergravity, we suggest how to describe Matrix theory with non-flat backgrounds.
A universal effective supergravity Lagrangian describing the thermal phases of heterotic strings on T^4 x S^1, IIA and IIB strings on K^3 x S^1 is constructed. The resulting non-perturbative phase structure is discussed.
For general off-shell N=2 supergravity-matter systems in three spacetime dimensions, a formalism is developed to reduce the corresponding actions from superspace to components. The component actions are explicitly computed in the cases of Type I and Type II minimal supergravity formulations. We describe the models for topologically massive supergravity which correspond to all the known off-shell formulations for three-dimensional N=2 supergravity. We also present a universal setting to construct supersymmetric backgrounds associated with these off-shell supergravities.
We reconsider the well-known issue of string corrections to Supergravity theory. Our treatment is carried out to second order in the string slope parameter. We establish a procedure for solving the Bianchi identities in the non minimal case, and we solve a long standing problem in the perturbative expansion of D=10, N=1 string corrected Supergravity, obtaining the H sector tensors, torsions and curvatures.
The physical states of N=4 conformal supergravity in four dimensions occur in twistor-string theory by Berkovits and Witten(hep-th/0406051). We study two alternative versions of twistor-string theory based on the B-model of weighted projective space WCP^{3|2} and based on a certain construction involving open strings. The spacetime fields described by the twistor superfields contain the physical states of N=1 conformal supergravity from above N=4 superspace approach.
I discuss the role of quantum effects in the phenomenology of effective supergravity theories from compactification of the weakly coupled heterotic string. An accurate incorporation of these effects requires a regularization procedure that respects local supersymmetry and BRST invariance and that retains information associated with the cut-off scale, which has physical meaning in an effective theory. I briefly outline the Pauli-Villars regularization procedure, describe some applications, and comment on what remains to be done to fully define the effective quantum field theory.
We construct the ambitwistor pure spinor string in a general type II supergravity background in the semi-classical regime. Almost all supergravity constraints are obtained from nilpotency of the BRST charge and further consistency conditions from additional world-sheet symmetries. We also discuss the case of $AdS_5\times S^5$ background.
A derivation of N=1 supergravity action from string theory is presented. Starting from a Nambu-Goto bosonic string, matter field is introduced to obtain a superstring in four dimension. The excitation quanta of this string contain graviton and the gravitino. Using the principle of equivalence, the action in curved space time are found and the sum of them is the Deser-Zumino N=1 supergravity action. The energy tensor is Lorentz invariant due to supersymmetry.
In these two lectures, delivered at the XXXVII Karpacz Winter School, February 2001, I review some applications of superspace in various topics related to string theory and M-theory. The first lecture is mainly devoted to descriptions of brane dynamics formulated in supergravity backgrounds. The second lecture concerns the use of superspace techniques for determining consistent interactions in supersymmetric gauge theory and supergravity, e.g. alpha'-corrections from string/M-theory.
A Closed string field theory action is formulated for $\mathcal N$ =8 self-dual supergravity which is off-shell and Lorentz covariant. The bosonic truncation in the quantum field theory limit gives the Plebanski type of action in the super space.
We propose a new off-shell formulation for N-extended conformal supergravity in three spacetime dimensions. Our construction is based on the gauging of the N-extended superconformal algebra in superspace. Covariant constraints are imposed such that the algebra of covariant derivatives is given in terms of a single curvature superfield which turns out to be the super Cotton tensor. An immediate corollary of this construction is that the curved superspace is conformally flat if and only if the super Cotton tensor vanishes. Upon degauging of certain local symmetries, our formulation is shown to r…
The equations of motion of anomaly-free supergravity are shown to fulfil (to all orders in $α'$) a differential condition corresponding to the one relating the Weyl anomaly coefficients for a non-linear sigma model representing a (heterotic) string propagating in a non-trivial background. This supports the possibility that anomaly-free supergravity could provide the complete massless effective theory for the heterotic string.
In this report we obtain explicit string-like solutions of equations of motion of massive heterotic supergravity recently obtained by Bergshoeff, Roo and Eyras. We also find consistent string source which can be embedded in these backgrounds when space-time dimension is greater than or equal to six.
We complete the solution to string corrected (deformed), D=10, N=1 Supergravity as the non-minimal low energy limit of string theory. We reaffirm a previously given solution, and we make important corrections to that solution. We solve what was an apparently intractable Bianchi identity in superspace, and we introduce a new important modification to the known first order results. In so doing we show that this approach to string corrected supergravity is indeed a consistent approach and we pave the way for many applications of the results.
We solve the non-minimal case of string corrected D=10, N=1 Supergravity as the low energy limit of string theory. We find a consistent set of solutions to the Bianchi identities in the H sector, and we also find the torsions and curvatures at second order in the string slope parameter. In so doing we solve a long standing problem in the non minimal case of the perturbative expansion.
Magnetic BPS string solutions preserving quarter of supersymmetry are obtained for all abelian gauged d=5 N=2 supergravity theories coupled to vector supermultiplets. Due to a ``generalised Dirac quantization'' condition satisfied by the minimized magnetic central charge, the string metric takes a universal form for all five dimensional gauged theories.
We give an elementary introduction to black holes in supergravity and string theory. The focus is on BPS solutions in four- and higher-dimensional supergravity and string theory. Basic ideas and techniques are explained in detail, including exercises with solutions.
We construct new half-BPS cosmic string solutions in D=4 N=2 supergravity compatible with a consistent truncation to N=1 supergravity where they describe D-term cosmic strings. The constant Fayet-Iliopoulos term in the N=1 D-term is not put in by hand but is geometrically engineered by a gauging in the mother N=2 supergravity theory. The coupling of the N=2 vector multiplets is characterized by a cubic prepotential admitting an axion-dilaton field, a common property of many compactifications of string theory. The axion-dilaton field survives the truncation to N=1 supergravity. On the string co…
We find the comlete solution to ten-dimensional supergravity coupled to a three-form field strength, given the ``standard ansatz" for the fields, and show that in addition to the well-known elementary and solitonic (heterotic) string solutions, one of the possibilities is an (unstable) elementary type I string solution.
We show the existence of solitonic solutions of five-dimensional supergravity, which can be interpreted as global cosmic strings in our universe. They possess the same mathematical structure as the stringy cosmic strings studied by Greene, Shapere, Vafa and Yau, while the size of the extra space and the value of the extra-space component of the gauge field vary from place to place around the string in our model. We also show that supersymmetry is partially broken in the presence of the global strings.
We examine the NS-NS corrections to the type II supergravity given by Gross and Sloan, under the linear T-duality transformations. We show that the gravity and the B-field couplings are invariant under off-shell T-duality, whereas the dilaton couplings are invariant under on-shell T-duality. Requiring the compatibility of the dilaton couplings with off-shell T-duality as a guiding principle, we extend them to include the appropriate Ricci curvature and the divergence of the B-field strength.
Puff Field Theory (PFT) is an example of a non-local field theory which arises from a novel embedding of D-branes in Melvin universe. We study several rotating and pulsating string solutions of the F-string equations of motion in the supergravity dual of the PFT. Further, we find a PP-wave geometry from this nonlocal spacetime by applying a Penrose limit and comment on its similarity with the maximally supersymmetric PP-wave background.
We extend the system of ungauged N=2, d=4 supergravity coupled to vector multiplets and hypermultiplets with 2-form potentials. The maximal number of 2-form potentials that one may introduce is equal to the number of isometries of either the special Kaehler or quaternionic Kaehler sigma model. We show that the local supersymmetry algebra can be realized on the 2-form potentials. These 2-forms couple electrically to strings which we refer to as stringy cosmic strings. The 1/2 BPS bosonic world-sheet actions for these strings are constructed and we discuss the properties of the 1/2 BPS stringy c…
We construct the first rotating string solution in 6-dimensional Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet supergravity, carrying both electric and magnetic charges. By embedding the known rotating string solution of the 2-derivative theory into 6-dimensional off-shell supergravity, the Killing spinors associated with the underlying supersymmetry can be made off-shell and are universal to all off-shell supergravity models based on the same field content. The near-horizon geometry is S^3 fibred over the extremal BTZ black hole, locally isomorphic to AdS_3*S^3. We compute the higher-derivative corrections to the Br…
We revisit Weyl invariance of string theories in generalized supergravity backgrounds. In the previous work arXiv:1703.09213, a possible counterterm was constructed, but it seems to be a point of controversy in some literatures whether it is non-local or not. To settle down this issue, we show that the counterterm may be local and exactly cancels out the one-loop trace anomaly in generalized supergravity backgrounds.
We calculate the supergravity fields sourced by a D-brane with a null travelling wave from disk amplitudes in type IIB string theory compactified on T^4 x S^1. The amplitudes reproduce all the non-trivial features of the previously known two-charge supergravity solutions in the D-brane/momentum frame, providing a direct link between the microscopic bound states and their macroscopic descriptions.
We use Pure Spinor String Theory to construct suitable building blocks to arrange the structure of supergravity amplitudes with n-points and at higher loops in a very convenient way. Following Mafra et al. proposal for N=4 super Yang-Mills amplitudes, we discuss its generalization to supergravity amplitudes. In particular, we first derive the building blocks for closed string amplitudes from closed vertices showing that, because of the factorization, several results of open string theory can be used; nevertheless, also new structures emerge. We provide a first list of these new ingredients and…
Using superspace projection operators we provide a classification of (3/2,2) off-shell supermultiplets which are realized in terms of a real axial vector superfield, with or without compensating superfields. Any linearized supergravity action is shown to be a superposition of those corresponding to (i) old minimal supergravity, (ii) new minimal supergravity and (iii) the novel (3/2,2) off-shell supermultiplet with 12+12 degrees of freedom obtained in hep-th/0201096.
Recent developments in string theory suggest that cosmic strings could be formed at the end of brane inflation. Supergravity provides a realistic model to study the properties of strings arising in brane inflation. Whilst the properties of cosmic strings in flat space-time have been extensively studied there are significant complications in the presence of gravity. We study the effects of gravitation on cosmic strings arising in supergravity. Fermion zero modes are a common feature of cosmic strings, and generically occur in supersymmetric models. The corresponding massless currents can give r…
We describe the linearized supergeometry of eleven dimensional supergravity with four off-shell local supersymmetries. We start with a background Minkowski 11D, N=1 superspace, and an additional ingredient of a global, constant, $G_2$-structure which facilitates the definition of a $4|4+7$ background superspace. A bottom-up construction of linear fluctuations of the geometric constituents (such as supervielbein, spin connection, and the super 3-form of 11D supergravity) is given in terms of 4D, N=1 prepotential superfields. This is complemented by a top-down description of the linearized super…
We study the non-critical space-time non-commutative open string (NCOS) theory using a dual supergravity description in terms of a certain near-horizon limit of the F1-Dp bound state. We find the thermodynamics of NCOS theory from supergravity. The thermodynamics is equivalent to Yang-Mills theory on a commutative space-time. We argue that this fact does not have to be in contradiction with the expected Hagedorn behaviour of NCOS theory. To support this we consider string corrections to the thermodynamics. We also discuss the relation to Little String Theory in 6 dimensions.
