196 pages. Author version of the book with the same title, published by Spinger International Publishing, 2020 as Lecture Notes in Physics 966, see https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030337551
An overview of matter-coupled ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity theories with 8 real supercharges, in 4,5 and 6 dimensions is given. The construction of the theories by superconformal methods is explained from basic principles. Special geometry is obtained and characterized. The relation between the theories in those dimensions is discussed. This leads to the concepts of very special geometry and quaternionic-Kähler manifolds, whose structures are explained.
In the context of the formalism proposed by Stelle-West and Grignani-Nardelli, it is shown that Chern-Simons supergravity can be consistently obtained as a dimensional reduction of (3+1)-dimensional supergravity, when written as a gauge theory of the Poincare group. The dimensional reductions are consistent with the gauge symmetries, mapping (3+1)-dimensional Poincare supergroup gauge transformations onto (2+1)-dimensional Poincare supergroup ones.
We construct a 5D, N = 2 Euclidean theory of supergravity coupled to vector multiplets. Upon reducing this theory over a circle we recover the action of 4D, N = 2 Euclidean supergravity coupled to vector multiplets.
General relativity and supergravity become integrable systems after dimensional reduction to two spacetime dimensions. This means the equations of motion can be encoded in the flatness condition for a Lax operator. Nicolai and Warner found Lax operators for dimensionally reduced supergravity. They gave explicit formulas primarily for the case with $N=16$ supersymmetry in two dimensions (which corresponds to $N=8$ supergravity in four dimensions). In this note, we derive analogous results for the case with $N=2$ supersymmetry in two dimensions (which corresponds to $N=1$ supergravity in four di…
We present a theory of N=2 chiral supergravity in (10+2)-dimensions. This formulation is similar to N=1 supergravity presented recently using null-vectors in 12D. In order to see the consistency of this theory, we perform a simple dimensional reduction to ten-dimensions, reproducing the type IIB chiral supergravity. We also show that our supergravity can be consistent background for super (2+2)-brane theory, satisfying fermionic invariance of the total action. Such supergravity theory without manifest Lorentz invariance had been predicted by the recent F-theory in twelve-dimensions.
We study the SO(4)-symmetric solution of the five-dimensional SU(2) x U(1) gauged N=4 supergravity theory obtained in [hep-th/0101202]. This solution contains purely magnetic non-Abelian and electric Abelian fields. It can be interpreted as a reduction of seven-dimensional gauged supergravity on a torus, which comes from type IIB supergravity on S^3. We also show how to obtain that solution from six-dimensional Romans' theory on a circle. We then up-lift the solution to massless type IIA supergravity. The dual gauge field theory is twisted and is defined on the worldvolume of a NS-fivebrane wr…
We investigate the coset structures which appear in the dimensional reduction of supergravity theories. Especially we investigate how to recognize the global symmetry groups if the coset is non-split. As an example we apply our analysis to the theories emanating from the dimensional reduction of Heterotic supergravity.
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.
N=6 conformal supergravity in three dimensions is studied in an off-shell component field formulation. We obtain local symmetry transformation laws and a Lagrangian of the conformal supergravity multiplet. We then couple it to the ABJM theory and obtain local transformation laws and a Lagrangian of the coupled theory.
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.
Recent results on the relation between hyper-Kahler geometry with torsion and solutions admitting Killing spinors in minimal de sitter supergravity are extended to more general supergravity models with vector multiplets.
Motivated by the fact that there exists a continuous one-parameter family of gauged SO(8) supergravities, possible eleven-dimensional origins of this phenomenon are explored. Taking the original proof of the consistency of the truncation of 11D supergravity to SO(8) gauged supergravity as a starting point, a number of critical issues is discussed, such as the preferred electric-magnetic duality frame in four dimensions and the existence of dual magnetic gauge fields and related quantities in eleven dimensions. Some of those issues are resolved but others seem to point to obstructions in embedd…
The construction of the three-dimensional Chern-Simons supergravity theory invariant under the minimal Maxwell superalgebra is presented. We obtain a supergravity action without cosmological constant term characterized by three coupling constants. We also show that the Maxwell supergravity presented here appears as a vanishing cosmological constant limit of a minimal AdS-Lorentz supergravity. The flat limit is applied at the level of the superalgebra, Chern-Simons action, supersymmetry transformation laws and field equations.
We construct supergravity solutions dual to twisted field theories that are the worldvolume theories of D4-branes wrapped on 2, 3-cycles, and NS-fivebranes on 3-cycles. We first obtain the solutions for the Romans' six-dimensional gauged supergravity theories and then up-lift them to ten dimensions. In particular, we find solutions for field configurations with either non-Abelian fields or B-fields being excited. One of these solutions, in the massless case, is up-lifted to the massless type IIA string theory. This is the first example of such a kind. The cases studied provide new examples of …
We give generalizations of extended Poincaré supergravity with {\it arbitrarily many} supersymmetries in the absence of central charges in three-dimensions by gauging its intrinsic global $~SO(N)$~ symmetry. We call these \alephnull (Aleph-Null) supergravity theories. We further couple a non-Abelian supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory and an Abelian topological BF theory to \alephnull supergravity. Our result overcomes the previous difficulty for supersymmetrization of Chern-Simons theories beyond $~N=4$. This feature is peculiar to the Chern-Simons and BF theories including supergravity in thr…
We present a projective superspace formulation for matter-coupled simple supergravity in five dimensions. Our starting point is the superspace realization for the minimal supergravity multiplet proposed by Howe in 1981. We introduce various off-shell supermultiplets (i.e. hypermultiplets, tensor and vector multiplets) that describe matter fields coupled to supergravity. A projective-invariant action principle is given, and specific dynamical systems are constructed including supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-models. We believe that this approach can be extended to other supergravity theories with…
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 analyze the constraints which follow both on the geometry and on the gauge sector for a consistent supergravity reduction of a general matter-coupled N=2 supergravity theory in four dimensions. These constraints can be derived in an elegant way by looking at the fermionic sector of the theory.
It is shown that N=4 gauged supergravity in four dimensions is obtained by compactifying N=1 supergravity in ten dimensions on the group manifold $S^3\times S^3$. This could be further related to supergravity in eleven dimensions. Analysis of supersymmetry conditions of N=4 gauged supergravity in four dimensions reveals solutions which preserve 1/4 of the supersymmetries and are characterized by a BPS-monopole-type gauge field. These solutions are lifted to solutions of the ten and eleven dimensional theories.
We study compactification of five dimensional ungauged N=2 supergravity coupled to vector- and hypermultiplets on orbifold $S^1/Z_2$. In the model the vector multiplets scalar manifold is arbitrary while the hypermultiplet scalars span a generalized self dual Einstein manifold constructed by Calderbank and Pedersen. The bosonic and the fermionic sector of the low energy effective N=1 supergravity in four dimensions are derived.
We explicitly construct $N=10$ Chern-Simons gaged supergravity in three dimensions with non-semisimple gauge group $SO(5)\ltimes \mathbf{T}^{10}$. The gauge group is embedded in $E_{6(-14)}$ which is the isometry group of the 32-dimensional scalar manifold $E_{6(-14)}/SO(10)\times U(1)$. The resulting theory is on-shell equivalent to $SO(5)$ Yang-Mills gauged supergravity coming from dimensional reduction on $S^1$ of $SO(5)$ $N=5$ gauged supergravity in four dimensions. We discuss the spectrum of the corresponding reduction. The $SO(5)\ltimes \mathbf{T}^{10}$ gauged supergravity, describing th…
We compute the three point functions of Neveu--Schwarz primary fields of the minimal models on the sphere when coupled to supergravity in two dimensions. The results show that the three point correlation functions are determined by the scaling dimensions of the fields, as in the bosonic case.
We construct a consistent reduction of type IIA supergravity on S^3, leading to a maximal gauged supergravity in seven dimensions with the full set of massless SO(4) Yang-Mills fields. We do this by starting with the known S^4 reduction of eleven-dimensional supergravity, and showing that it is possible to take a singular limit of the resulting standard SO(5)-gauged maximal supergravity in seven dimensions, whose eleven-dimensional interpretation involves taking a limit where the internal 4-sphere degenerates to RxS^3. This allows us to reinterpret the limiting SO(4)-gauged theory in seven dim…
We construct a consistent reduction ansatz of eleven-dimensional supergravity to $N=2$ $SO(4)$ seven-dimensional gauged supergravity with topological mass term for the three-form field. The ansatz is obtained from a truncation of the $S^4$ reduction giving rise to the maximal $N=4$ $SO(5)$ gauged supergravity. Therefore, the consistency is guaranteed by the consistency of the $S^4$ reduction. Unlike the gauged supergravity without topological mass having a half-supersymmetric domain wall vacuum, the resulting 7D gauged supergravity theory admits a maximally supersymmetric $AdS_7$ critical poin…
Supergravity theory in $2+ε$ dimensions is studied. It is invariant under supertransformations in 2 and 3 dimensions. One-loop divergence is explicitly computed in the background field method and a nontrivial fixed point is found. In quantizing the supergravity, a gauge fixing condition is devised which explicitly isolates conformal and superconformal modes. The renormalization of the gravitationally dressed operators is studied and their anomalous dimensions are computed. Problems to use the dimensional reduction are also examined.
We study the hidden symmetries arising in the dimensional reduction of d=5, N=2 supergravity to three dimensions. Extending previous partial results for the bosonic part, we give a derivation that includes fermionic terms, shedding light on the appearance of the local hidden symmetry SO(4) in the reduction.
We show that Supergravity in eleven dimensions can be described in terms of a constrained superfield on the light-cone, without the use of auxiliary fields. We build its action to first order in the gravitational coupling constant κ, by "oxidizing" (N=8,d=4) Supergravity. This is simply achieved, as for N=4 Yang-Mills, by extending the transverse derivatives into superspace. The eleven-dimensional SuperPoincare algebra is constructed and a fourth order interaction is conjectured.
In view of the newly conjectured Kac-Moody symmetries of supergravity theories placed in eleven and ten dimensions, the relation between these symmetry groups and possible compactifications are examined. In particular, we identify the relevant group cosets that parametrise the vacuum solutions of AdS x S type.
A new action for eleven dimensional supergravity on a manifold with boundary is presented. The action is a possible low energy limit of $M$-theory. Previous problems with infinite constants in the action are overcome and a new set of boundary conditions relating the behaviour of the supergravity fields to matter fields are obtained. One effect of these boundary conditions is that matter fields generate gravitational torsion.
We study models of spontaneous N=2 -> N=1 supergravity breaking in three space-time dimensions and discuss the topological Higgs- and super-Higgs mechanism which generates the masses for the spin-3/2 gravitino multiplet. The resulting N=1 spectrum and its effective action is analysed.
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.
We show that non-chiral $N=2$ supergravity in ten-dimensions admits a family of dual actions where the one-form, two-form or three-form is replaced by the seven-form, six-form or five-form respectively. The dual actions and supersymmetry transformations are given.
We argue that $\mathcal N=8$ supergravity in four dimensions exhibits an exceptional $E_{8(8)}$ symmetry, enhanced from the known $E_{7(7)}$ invariance. Our procedure to demonstrate this involves dimensional reduction of the $\mathcal N=8$ theory to $d=3$, a field redefinition to render the $E_{8(8)}$ invariance manifest, followed by dimensional oxidation back to $d=4$.
We develop a new off-shell formulation for six-dimensional conformal supergravity obtained by gauging the 6D ${\cal N} = (1, 0)$ superconformal algebra in superspace. This formulation is employed to construct two invariants for 6D ${\cal N} = (1, 0)$ conformal supergravity, which contain $C^3$ and $C\Box C$ terms at the component level. Using a conformal supercurrent analysis, we prove that these exhaust all such invariants in minimal conformal supergravity. Finally, we show how to construct the supersymmetric $F \Box F$ invariant in curved superspace.
We suggest a supergravity dual for the $(1,0)$ superconformal field theory in six dimensions which has $E_8$ global symmetry. Compared to the description of the (2,0) field theory, the 4-sphere is replaced by a 4-hemisphere, or by orbifolding the 4-sphere.
We present a consistent theory of N=1 supergravity in twelve-dimensions with the signature (10,2). Even though the formulation uses two null vectors violating the manifest Lorentz covariance, all the superspace Bianchi identities are satisfied. After a simple dimensional reduction to ten-dimensions, this theory reproduces the N=1 supergravity in ten-dimensions, supporting the consistency of the system. We also show that our supergravity can be the consistent backgrounds for heterotic or type-I superstring in Green-Schwarz formulation, by confirming the kappa-invariance of the total action. Thi…
By applying Noether method to N=1 local supersymmetry in eleven dimensions, we obtained two candidates of R^4 corrections to the supergravity. The bosonic parts of these two completely match with the results obtained by type IIA string perturbative calculations. We also obtained 13 parameters which relate only fermionic terms.
We consider the conditions necessary for obtaining perturbative maximal supergravity in d dimensions as a decoupling limit of type II superstring theory compactified on a (10 -- d)-torus. For dimensions d = 2 and d = 3 it is possible to define a limit in which the only finite-mass states are the 256 massless states of maximal supergravity. However, in dimensions d > 3 there are infinite towers of additional massless and finite-mass states. These correspond to Kaluza--Klein charges, wound strings, Kaluza--Klein monopoles or branes wrapping around cycles of the toroidal extra dimensions. We conc…
Starting from the new minimal multiplet of supergravity in $2+2$ dimensions, we construct two types of self-dual supergravity theories. One of them involves a self-duality condition on the Riemann curvature and implies the equations of motion following from the Hilbert-Einstein type supergravity action. The other one involves a self-duality condition on a {\it torsionful} Riemann curvature with the torsion given by the field-strength of an antisymmetric tensor field, and implies the equations of motion that follow from an $R^2$-type action.
The four dimensional Godel spacetime is known to have the structure M_3 x R. It is also known that the three-dimensional factor M_3 is an exact solution of three-dimensional gravity coupled to a Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory. We build in this paper a N=2 supergravity extension for this action and prove that the Godel background preserves half of all supersymmetries.
In this paper we propose a generalization of N=4 three dimensional AdS supergravity to the noncommutative case. This is a supersymmetric version of the results presented in hep-th/0201103. We show that it continues to admit an N=4 supersymmetric solution which is the noncommutative couterpart of AdS_3 space. Some other solutions are also discussed.
The use of gauged ${\cal N} = 8$ supergravity as a tool in studying the AdS/CFT correspondence for ${\cal N} = 4$ Yang-Mills theory is reviewed. The supergravity potential implies a non-trivial, supersymmetric IR fixed point, and the flow to this fixed point is described in terms of a supergravity kink. The results agree perfectly with earlier, independent field theory results. A supergravity inspired $c$-function, and corresponding $c$-theorem is discussed for general flows, and the simplified form for supersymmetric flows is also given. Flows along the Coulomb branch of the Yang-Mills theory…
In the context of six-dimensional supergravity there is a special class of parent models for five-dimensional theories defined by the four Euclidean simple Jordan algebras of degree 3. We extend this result to include six- dimensional parent models for three infinite families of five-dimensional theories defined by Minkowskian Jordan algebras. Connections of the six-dimensional models to F-theory constructions are constrained by anomaly cancellation conditions and the structure of the six-dimensional theory gauge group.
All purely bosonic supersymmetric solutions of minimal supergravity in five dimensions are classified. The solutions preserve either one half or all of the supersymmetry. Explicit examples of new solutions are given, including a large family of plane-fronted waves and a maximally supersymmetric analogue of the Gödel universe which lifts to a solution of eleven dimensional supergravity that preserves 20 supersymmetries.
We present a new anomaly-free gauged N=1 supergravity model in six dimensions. The gauge group is E_7xG_2xU(1)_R, with all hyperinos transforming in the product representation {56,14). The theory admits monopole compactifications to R^4xS^2, leading to D=4 effective theories with broken supersymmetry and massless fermions.
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.
The first class constraints in N = 1 supergravity in 2 + 1 dimensions are used to construct a generator of three gauge symmetries (including a local supersymmetry) that leave the action invariant. The algebra of these symmetries closes. This generator is used to quantize the model; a ghost involving both Bosonic and Fermionic components arises.
In this paper, we continue the study of Janus and RG-flow interfaces in three dimensional supergravity continuing the work presented in [1]. We consider ${\cal N}=8$ gauged supergravity theories which have a ${\cal N}=(4,4)$ $AdS_3$ vacuum with $D^1(2,1;α) \times D^1(2,1;α)$ symmetry for general $α$. We derive the BPS flow equations and find numerical solutions. Some holographic quantities such as the entanglement entropy are calculated.
In this paper we explore the relation between conformal superalgebras with 64 supercharges and maximal supergravity theories in three, four and six dimensions using twistorial oscillator techniques. The massless fields of N=8 supergravity in four dimensions were shown to fit into a CPT-self-conjugate doubleton supermultiplet of the conformal superalgebra SU(2,2|8) a long time ago. We show that the fields of maximal supergravity in three dimensions can similarly be fitted into the super singleton multiplet of the conformal superalgebra OSp(16|4,R), which is related to the doubleton supermultipl…
We discuss recent results on the interpretation of flux compactifications on certain Type IIB orientifolds in terms of gauged N-extended supergravities of no--scale type.
We consider two-dimensional supergravity theories with four supercharges constructed from compactification of Type II string theory on a generic Calabi-Yau four-fold. In Type IIA and Type IIB cases, respectively, new superspace formulations of N=(2,2) and N=(0,4) dilaton supergravities are found and their coupling to matter multiplets 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).
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 ${\cal N}=1$ off-shell in 3 dimensions. I will introduce superspace formalisms in their simplest cases, and apply them to ${\…
We study linearized perturbations of eleven-dimensional $OSp(32|1)$ Chern-Simons supergravity. The action contains a term that changes the value of the cosmological constant, as considered by Horava. It is shown that the spectrum contains a 3-form and a 6-form whose field strengths are dual to each other, thus providing a link with the eleven-dimensional supergravity of Cremmer, Julia and Scherk. The linearized equations for the graviton and Rarita-Schwinger field are shown to be the standard ones as well.
We consider supergravity in twelve dimension, whose dimensional reduction yields eleven-dimensional, IIA, and IIB supergravities. This also provides the effective field theory of F-theory. We must take one direction as a compact circle, so that the Poincaré symmetry and the zero-mode field contents are identical to those of eleven-dimensional supergravity. We also have a tower of massive Kaluza-Klein states to be viewed as the wrapping modes of M2-branes. The twelfth dimension decompactifies only if other two directions are compactified on a torus, restoring different ten dimensional Poincaré …
We construct the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) action of a real linear multiplet in 4D $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity. Based on conformal supergravity, we derive the general condition under which the DBI action can be realized, and show that it can be constructed in the new minimal supergravity. We also generalize it to the matter coupled system.
