We analyze various supersymmetry multiplets containing the supercurrent and the energy-momentum tensor. The most widely known such multiplet, the Ferrara-Zumino (FZ) multiplet, is not always well-defined. This can happen once Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms are present or when the Kahler form of the target space is not exact. We present a new multiplet S which always exists. This understanding of the supersymmetry current allows us to obtain new results about the possible IR behavior of supersymmetric theories. Next, we discuss the coupling of rigid supersymmetric theories to supergravity. When the theory has an FZ-multiplet or it has a global R-symmetry the standard formalism can be used. But when this is not the case such simple gauging is impossible. Then, we must gauge the current S. The resulting theory has, in addition to the graviton and the gravitino, another massless chiral superfield Phi which is essential for the consistency of the theory. Some of the moduli of various string models play the role of Phi. Our general considerations, which are based on the consistency of supergravity, show that such moduli cannot be easily lifted thus leading to constraints on gravity/string models.
In N = 1 rigid supersymmetric theories, there exist three standard realizations of the supercurrent multiplet corresponding to the (i) old minimal, (ii) new minimal and (iii) non-minimal off-shell formulations for N = 1 supergravity. Recently, Komargodski and Seiberg in arXiv:1002.2228 put forward a new supercurrent and proved its consistency, although in the past it was believed not to exist. In this paper, three new variant supercurrent multiplets are proposed. Implications for supergravity-matter systems are discussed.
Theories with 3D $\mathcal{N}=2$ bulk supersymmetry may preserve a 2D $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ subalgebra when a boundary is introduced, possibly with localized degrees of freedom. We propose generalized supercurrent multiplets with bulk and boundary parts adapted to such setups. Using their structure, we comment on implications for the $\overline{Q}_+$-cohomology. As an example, we apply the developed framework to Landau-Ginzburg models. In these models, we study the role of boundary degrees of freedom and matrix factorizations. We verify our results using quantization.
Correlators of gauge invariant operators provide useful information on the dynamics, phases and spectra of a quantum field theory. In this paper, we consider N=1 supersymmetric theories and focus our attention on the supercurrent multiplet. We give a complete characterization of two-point functions of operators belonging to such multiplet, like the energy-momentum tensor and the supercurrent, and study the relations between them. We discuss instances of weakly coupled and strongly coupled theories, in which different symmetries, like conformal invariance and supersymmetry, may be conserved and…
Some general aspects of supersymmetry and supergravity are briefly reviewed with emphasis on Noether supercurrents and their role in the discussion of supersymmetry breaking.
We consider the minimal off-shell formulation for four-dimensional N=2 supergravity with a cosmological term, in which the second compensator is an improved tensor multiplet. We use it to derive a linearized supergravity action (and its dual versions) around the anti-de Sitter (AdS) background in terms of three N=2 off-shell multiplets: an unconstrained scalar superfield, vector and tensor multiplets. This allows us to deduce the structure of the supercurrent multiplet associated with those supersymmetric theories which naturally couple to the supergravity formulation chosen, with or without a…
Non-conformal supercurrents in six dimensions are described, which contain the trace of the energy-momentum tensor and the gamma-trace of the supersymmetry current amongst their component fields. Within the superconformal approach to ${\cal N} = (1, 0)$ supergravity, we present various distinct non-conformal supercurrents, one of which is associated with an ${\cal O}(2)$ (or linear) multiplet compensator, while another with a tensor multiplet compensator. We also derive an infinite class of non-conformal supercurrents involving ${\cal O}(n)$ multiplets with $n > 2$. As an illustrative example …
We discuss the Einstein tensor, the supercurrent and their conservation laws of old and new minimal formulations of supergravity in the superconformal approach. The variation of the action with respect to the gauge field of the $R$-symmetry in the conformal approach (the auxiliary field in the super-Poincaré action) allows to find the Einstein tensor and supercurrent in any curved background. Hence generalized expressions for their Ward identities follow. This proceeding is based on arXiv:1805.09228, arXiv:1705.02272.
We discuss local supercurrents as sources of the super-Einstein equations in the superconformal approach in the old and new minimal (auxiliary fields) formulation. Modifications of the Ward identity giving the covariant divergence of the Einstein multiplet are considered in presence of a Fayet-Iliopoulos term. Curvature multiplets can be used as alternative to the gravitino variation in the search for rigid supersymmetric curved backgrounds.
Long ago, Achucarro and Townsend discovered that in three dimensions (3D) N-extended anti-de Sitter (AdS) supergravity exists in several incarnations, which were called the (p,q) AdS supergravity theories with non-negative integers p>=q such that N=p+q. Using the superspace approach to 3D N-extended supergravity developed in arXiv:1101.4013, we present three superfield formulations for N=2 supergravity that allow for well defined cosmological terms and supersymmetric AdS solutions. The conformal compensators corresponding to these theories are respectively: (i) a chiral scalar multiplet: (ii) …
Supersymmetric field theories possess a rich structure in their supercurrent supermultiplets. Some symmetries are manifest in one supercurrent supermultiplet but not in the others; for instance, R-symmetry is manifest in the R-multiplet but not in the Ferrara-Zumino multiplet. Similarly, we argue that dilatation symmetry is manifest in the Virial multiplet (also known as a variant minimal supercurrent supermultiplet in the literature). It reveals that R-symmetry and dilatation symmetry are conceptually independent without further assumptions even though the superconformal symmetry connects the…
We address the problem of classifying all N=2 supercurrent multiplets in four space-time dimensions. For this purpose we consider the minimal formulation of N=2 Poincare supergravity with a tensor compensator, and derive its linearized action in terms of three N=2 off-shell multiplets: an unconstrained scalar superfield, a vector multiplet, and a tensor multiplet. Such an action was ruled out to exist in the past. Using the action constructed, one can derive other models for linearized N=2 supergravity by applying N=2 superfield duality transformations. The action depends parametrically on a c…
Consistent supercurrent multiplets are naturally associated with linearized off-shell supergravity models. In arXiv:1002.4932 we presented the hierarchy of such supercurrents which correspond to all the models for linearized 4D N = 1 supergravity classified a few years ago. Here we analyze the correspondence between the most general supercurrent given in arXiv:1002.4932 and the one obtained eight years ago in hep-th/0110131 using the superfield Noether procedure. We apply the Noether procedure to the general N = 1 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-model and show that it naturally leads to the so-…
We construct the dilaton Weyl multiplet for $N=2$ conformal supergravity in four dimensions. Beginning from an on-shell vector multiplet coupled to the standard Weyl multiplet, the equations of motion can be used to eliminate the supergravity auxiliary fields, following a similar pattern as in five and six dimensions. The resulting 24+24 component multiplet includes two gauge vectors and a gauge two-form and provides a variant formulation of $N=2$ conformal supergravity. We also show how this dilaton Weyl multiplet is contained in the minimal 32+32 Poincare supergravity multiplet introduced by…
We systematically analyze all possible supersymmetry multiplets that include the supersymmetry current and the energy-momentum tensor in various dimensions, focusing on N=1 in four dimensions. The most general such multiplet is the S-multiplet, which includes 16 bosonic and 16 fermionic operators. In special situations it can be decomposed, leading to smaller multiplets with 12+12 or even 8+8 operators. Physically, these multiplets give rise to different brane charges in the supersymmetry algebra. The S-multiplet is needed when the algebra contains both string and domain wall charges. In lower…
Recently there has appeared in the literature a sequence of papers questioning the consistency of supergravity coupled to Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. A key feature of these arguments is a demonstration that the conventional superspace stress tensor fails to be gauge invariant. We briefly show here how this can be understood as defining the stress tensor in a non-covariant Brans-Dicke frame in an underlying superconformal theory. When converted to the Einstein frame, the inconsistency vanishes, which is consistent with the emergence of a global symmetry discussed in these papers.
We construct the complete coupling of $(2,0)$ supergravity in six dimensions to $n$ tensor multiplets, extending previous results to all orders in the fermi fields. The truncation to $(1,0)$ supergravity coupled to tensor multiplets exactly reproduces the complete couplings recently obtained.
Starting from the 48+48 component multiplet of supercurrents for a rigid N=2 tensor multiplet in four spacetime dimensions, we obtain the transformation of the linearized supergravity multiplet which couples to this supercurrent multiplet. At the linearized level, this 48+48 component supergravity multiplet decouples into the 24+24 component linearized standard Weyl multiplet and a 24+24 component irreducible matter multiplet containing a real scalar field. By a consistent application of the supersymmetry algebra with field dependent structure constants appropriate to N=2 conformal supergravit…
In this paper the variant supercurrents based on consistency and completion in off-shell N=1 supergravity are studied. We formulate the embedding relations for supersymmetric current and energy tensor into supercurrent multiplet. Corresponding linearized supergravity is obtained with appropriate choice of Wess-Zumino gauge in each gravity supermultiplet.
Recently, Komargodski and Seiberg have proposed a new type of supercurrent multiplet which contains the energy-momentum tensor and the supersymmetry current consistently. In this paper we study quantum properties of the supercurrent in renormalizable field theories. We point out that the new supercurrent gives a quite simple resolution to the classic problem, called the anomaly puzzle, that the Adler-Bardeen theorem applied to an R-symmetry current is inconsistent with all order corrections to $β$ functions. We propose an operator equation for the supercurrent in all orders of perturbation the…
Building on a previous derivation of the local chiral projector for a two dimensional superspace with eight real supercharges, we provide the complete density projection formula required for locally supersymmetrical theories in this context. The derivation of this result is shown to be very efficient using techniques based on the Ectoplasmic construction of local measures in superspace.
We present various (0,2) heterotic supercurrent supermultiplets in (1+1) dimensional quantum field theories. From the minimal supercurrent supermultiplets, we deduce conditions on symmetry enhancement such as Lorentz invariance, (chiral) dilatation invariance, R-invariance, (chiral) conformal invariance and their various combinations. Our construction covers many interesting and/or exotic possibilities such as Lifshitz supersymmetry and warped superconformal algebra. We also discuss the corresponding supergravity by gauging the supercurrent supermultiplet. In particular, we propose a novel cla…
We will use the covariant superform approach to develop a new density formula for $\mathcal{N}=2$ conformal supergravity which is based on a fermionic multiplet whose lowest component is a dimension-5/2 spinor. We will show that this density formula admits an embedding of the real scalar multiplet of [arXiv:1712.02309]. Upon using the embedding of the tensor multiplet into the real scalar multiplet, we will construct a new higher derivative action of the tensor multiplet in $\mathcal{N}=2$ conformal supergravity.
We continue the program of constructing cubic interactions between matter and higher spin supermultiplets. In this work we consider a complex linear superfield and we find that it can have cubic interactions only with supermultiplets with propagating spins $j=s+1$, $j=s+1/2$ for any non-negative integer $s$ (half-integer superspin supermultiplets). We construct the higher spin supercurrent and supertrace, these compose the canonical supercurrent multiplet which generates the cubic interactions. We also prove that for every $s$ there exist an alternative minimal supercurrent multiplet, with van…
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).
Extending prior investigations, we study three of the the four distinct minimal (4,0) scalar multiplets coupled to (4,0) supergravity. It is found that the scalar multiplets manifest their differences at the component level by possessing totally different couplings to the supergravity fields. Only the SM-I multiplet possesses a conformal coupling. For the remaining multiplets, terms linear in the world sheet curvature and/or SU(2) gauge field strengths are required to appear in the action by local supersymmetry.
We construct the supercurrent multiplet that contains the energy-momentum tensor of the (2,0) tensor multiplet. By coupling this multiplet of currents to the fields of conformal supergravity, we first construct the linearized superconformal transformations rules of the (2,0) Weyl multiplet. Next, we construct the full non-linear transformation rules by gauging the superconformal algebra OSp(8^*|4). We then use this result to construct the full equations of motion of the tensor multiplet in a conformal supergravity background. Coupling N+5 copies of the tensor multiplet to conformal supergravit…
The Noether currents associated with the non-linearly realized super-Poincare' symmetries of the Green-Schwarz (Nambu-Goto-Akulov-Volkov) action for a non-BPS p=2 brane embedded in a N=1, D=4 target superspace are constructed. The R symmetry current, the supersymmetry currents, the energy-momentum tensor and the scalar central charge current are shown to be components of a world volume supercurrent. The centrally extended superconformal transformations are realized on the Nambu-Goldstone boson and fermion fields of the non-BPS brane. The superconformal currents form supersymmetry multiplets wi…
Some general features of locally supersymmetric theories (N=1 in four dimensions) involving Chern-Simons forms and antisymmetric tensors are sketched out. The relevance of the three-form multiplet both for the description of Chern-Simons forms and the supersymmetry properties of the gaugino condensate is pointed out.
We propose new interactions of a (massive) vector multiplet with chiral multiplets and (D-type) spontaneously broken supersymmetry in four-dimensional N=1 supergravity, due to the generalized Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms. Our actions are invariant under linearly realized off-shell supersymmetry and Kaehler-Weyl transformations. We compute the scalar potentials and pinpoint some physical restrictions arising in this approach.
We present new off-shell formulations for the massive superspin-3/2 multiplet. In the massless limit, they reduce respectively to the old minimal (n=-1/3) and non-minimal ($n\neq -1/3, 0$) linearized formulations for 4D N=1 supergravity. Duality transformations, which relate the models constructed, are derived.
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 lagrangian of the N=1, D=10 dual supergravity interacting with the Yang-Mills matter multiplet is constructed starting immediately from the equations of motion obtained from the Bianchi Identities in the superspace approach. The difference is established in comparison with the Gates-Nishino lagrangian at the fourth order level in fermionic fields.
The recent papers arXiv:1110.0971 and arXiv:1201.5431 have provided a superfield description for vector-tensor multiplets and their Chern-Simons couplings in 4D N = 2 conformal supergravity. Here we develop a superform formulation for these theories. Furthermore an alternative means of gauging the central charge is given, making use of a deformed vector multiplet, which may be thought of as a variant vector-tensor multiplet. Its Chern-Simons couplings to additional vector multiplets are also constructed. This multiplet together with its Chern-Simons couplings are new results not considered by …
We construct the Weyl multiplets of N=2 conformal supergravity in five dimensions. We show that there exist two different versions of the Weyl multiplet, which contain the same gauge fields but differ in the matter field content: the Standard Weyl multiplet and the Dilaton Weyl multiplet. At the linearized level we obtain the transformation rules for the Dilaton Weyl multiplet by coupling it to the multiplet of currents corresponding to an on-shell vector multiplet. We construct the full non-linear transformation rules for both multiplets by gauging the D=5 superconformal algebra F^2(4). We sh…
Recent advances in curved N=2 superspace methods have rendered the component reduction of superspace actions more feasible than in the past. In this paper, we consider models involving both vector and tensor multiplets coupled to supergravity and demonstrate explicitly how component actions may be efficiently obtained. In addition, tensor multiplets coupled to conformal supergravity are considered directly within projective superspace, where their formulation is most natural. We then demonstrate how the inverse procedure -- the lifting of component results to superspace -- can simplify the ana…
We describe in detail the derivation of a superconformal off-shell formulation of the alternative $\mathcal{N}=2$, $d=5$ ungauged supergravity of Nishino and Rajpoot, coupled to $n$ Abelian vector multiplets, using a general dilaton-Weyl multiplet. We generalize the vector multiplet coupling available in the literature and show under which assumptions that the scalar manifold reduces to the known case of SO(1,1) $\times$ SO(1,n)/SO(n). As an application of the formalism we propose generalized vector multiplet coupled higher curvature terms, whose construction we sketch briefly.
We extend the notion of central charge superspace to the case of local supersymmetry. Gauged central charge transformations are identified as diffeomorphisms at the same footing as space-time diffeomorphisms and local supersymmetry transformations. Given the general structure we then proceed to the description of a particular vector-tensor supergravity multiplet of 24+24 components, identified by means of rather radical constraints.
We couple in superspace a `dual' vector multiplet (C_{m_1... m_7}, ł^α) to the dual version of N=1 supergravity (e_m{}^a, ψ_m{}^α, M_{m_1... m_6}, χ_\a,Φ) in ten-dimensions. Our new 7-form field C has its 8-form field strength H dual to the 2-form field strength F of the conventional vector multiplet. We have found that the H-Bianchi identity must have the form N\wedge F, where N is the 7-form field strength in dual supergravity. We also see why only the dual version of supergravity couples to the dual vector multiplet consistently. The potential anomaly for the dual vector multiplet can be ca…
We couple a recently-established N=1 globally supersymmetric self-dual Yang-Mills multiplet in three dimensions to supergravity. This becomes possible due to our previous result on globally supersymmetric formulation based on a compensator multiplet. We further couple the self-dual vector to a supersymmetric sigma-model on the coset SO(8,n) / SO(8) X SO(n) via minimal couplings for an arbitrary gauged subgroup H_0 \subset SO(8) X SO(n). A corresponding superspace formulation is also presented.
In four spacetime dimensions there exist two off-shell formulations for the massless multiplet of superspin $(s+\frac 12)$, where $s=2,3, \dots$. These supersymmetric higher spin gauge theories, known as longitudinal and transverse, are dual to each other and describe two massless fields of spin $(s+\frac 12)$ and $(s+1)$ upon elimination of the auxiliary fields. They respectively reduce, in the limiting case of $s=1$, to the linearised actions for the old minimal and the $n=-1$ non-minimal ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity theories. Associated with these gauge massless theories are non-conformal high…
We study the vacuum structures of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N} = 1$ old minimal supergravity with higher derivative corrections. We find that $\mathcal{N} = 1$ supergravity with Riemann curvature square corrections and higher derivative matter chiral multiplets induces a non-trivial de Sitter vacuum, even in the absence of superpotentials. This vacuum generically breaks supersymmetry. We show that the auxiliary fields in the gravity and the chiral multiples play important roles to generate a potential in supersymmetric higher derivative theories.
We construct the general four-dimensional N=2 supergravity theory coupled to vector and vector-tensor multiplets only. Consistency of the construction requires the introduction of the vector fields dual to those sitting in the same supermultiplets as the antisymmetric tensors, as well as the scalar fields dual to the tensors themselves. Gauge symmetries also involving these additional fields guarantee the correct counting of the physical degrees of freedom.
We investigate Matrix theory in the large-N limit following the conjectured correspondence between Matrix theory and supergravity on the near-horizon limit of the D0-brane background. We analyze the complete fermionic spectrum of supergravity and obtain two-point functions of the supercurrents in Matrix theory. By examining the large-N scaling properties of the correlators, we discuss the consistency of the 11-dimensional interpretation of the supersymmetry of Matrix theory.
We consider consistent truncations of N=2 supergravites in the presence of tensor multiplets (dual to hypermultiplets) as they occur in type IIB compactifications on Calabi--Yau orientifolds. We analyze in detail the scalar potentials encompassing these reductions when fluxes are turned on and study vacua of the N=1 phases.
We investigate the superconformal transformation properties of the supercurrent as well as of the superconformal anomalies themselves in d=4, N=1 supersymmetric quantum field theory. Matter supercurrent and anomalies are coupled to a classical background of minimal supergravity fields. On flat superspace, there exist two different types of the superconformal Ward identity (called S and B) which correspond to the flat space limits of old resp. new minimal background supergravity fields. In the present publication we give particular importance to the new minimal case. A general formalism is set …
The recent paper arXiv:1205.6881 has developed superform formulations for two versions of the vector-tensor multiplet and their Chern-Simons couplings in four-dimensional N = 2 conformal supergravity. One of them is the standard vector-tensor multiplet with the central charge gauged by a vector multiplet. The other is the variant vector-tensor multiplet with the property that its own one-form gauges the central charge. Here a more general setup is presented in which the known versions reside as special cases. Analysis of the setup demonstrates that under certain assumptions there are two disti…
We study, in an arbitrary even number D of dimensions, the duality between massive D/2 tensors coupled to vectors, with masses given by an arbitrary number of ``electric'' and ``magnetic'' charges, and (D/2-1) massive tensors. We develop a formalism to dualize the Lagrangian of D=4, N=2 supergravity coupled to tensor and vector multiplets, and show that, after the dualization, it is equivalent to a standard D=4, N=2 gauged supergravity in which the Special Geometry quantities have been acted on by a suitable symplectic rotation.
We present the action for a self-dual tensor in six dimensions, coupled to a (2,0) conformal supergravity background. This action gives rise to the expected equations of motion. An alternative look upon one of the gauge symmetries clarifies its role in the supersymmetry transformation rules and the realisation of the algebra.
We consider N=4 SU(2)xU(1) gauged supergravity on asymptotically-AdS_5 backgrounds. By a near-boundary analysis we determine the boundary-dominant components of the bulk fields from their partially gauge-fixed field equations. Subdominant components are projected out in the boundary limit and we find a reduced set of boundary fields, constituting the N=2 Weyl multiplet. The residual bulk symmetries are found to act on the boundary fields as four-dimensional diffeomorphisms, N=2 supersymmetry and (super-)Weyl transformations. This shows that the on-shell N=4 supergravity multiplet yields the N=…
We present the description in central charge superspace of N=4 supergravity with antisymmetric tensor coupled to an arbitrary number of abelian vector multiplets. All the gauge vectors of the coupled system are treated on the same footing as gauge fields corresponding to translations along additional bosonic coordinates. It is the geometry of the antisymmetric tensor which singles out which combinations of these vectors belong to the supergravity multiplet and which are the additional coupled ones. Moreover, basic properties of Chapline-Manton coupling mechanism, as well as the SO(6,n)/SO(6)*S…
We derive the couplings of the 3-form supermultiplet to the general supergravity-matter-Yang-Mills system. Based on the methods of superspace geometry, we identify component fields, establish their supergravity transformations and construct invariant component field actions. Two specific applications are adressed: the appearance of fundamental 3-forms in the context of strong-weak duality and the use of the 3-form supermultiplets to describe effective degrees of freedom relevant to the mechanism of gaugino condensation.
In a classical conformal invariant supersymmetric gauge theory, the chiral R-symmetry current, the supersymmetry current and the energy-momentum tensor constitute a supercurrent multiplet. There are two different superconformal anoamly multiplets in four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories, one originating from the supersymmetric gauge dynamics and the consequent nonvanishing β-function, and the other one coming from the coupling of the supercurrent multiplet to the external supergravity multiplet with non-trivial topology. We emphasize that in the gauge/gravity dual correspondence these…
We determine the general structure of quantum anomalies for the $R$-multiplet of four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric quantum field theories in the presence of background fields for an arbitrary number of Abelian flavor multiplets. By solving the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions for off-shell new minimal supergravity in four dimensions with an arbitrary number of Abelian vector multiplets, we compute the anomaly in the conservation of the supercurrent to leading non trivial order in the gravitino and vector multiplet fermions. We find that both $R$-symmetry and flavor anomalies ne…
We construct the complete coupling of $(1,0)$ supergravity in six dimensions to $n$ tensor multiplets, extending previous results to all orders in the fermi fields. We then add couplings to vector multiplets, as dictated by the generalized Green-Schwarz mechanism. The resulting theory embodies factorized gauge and supersymmetry anomalies, to be disposed of by fermion loops, and is determined by corresponding Wess-Zumino consistency conditions, aside from a quartic coupling for the gaugini. The supersymmetry algebra contains a corresponding extension that plays a crucial role for the consistenc…
