Related papers: Higher Order Invariants in Supergravity

We investigate the issue of coordinate redefinition invariance by carefully performing nonlinear transformations in the discretized quantum mechanical path integral. By resorting to hamiltonian path integral methods, we provide the first…

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.…

We study static black brane solutions in the context of N = 2 U(1) gauged supergravity in four dimensions. Using the formalism of first-order flow equations, we construct novel extremal black brane solutions including examples of Nernst…

We explicitly extract the structure of higher-derivative curvature-squared terms at genus 0 and 1 in the d=4 heterotic string effective action compactified on symmetric orbifolds by computing on-shell S-matrix superstring amplitudes. In…

A new description of free massless superfields of arbitrary superspin $Y$ ($Y>1/2$) is proposed. Following the first-order philosophy, we relax some of the properties (reality, gauge redundancy) of the unconstrained higher spin…

The addition of boundary counterterms to the gravitational action of asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes permits us to define the partition function unambiguously without background subtraction. We show that the inclusion of p-form…

We investigate and clarify the mutual compatibility of the higher order corrections arising in supergravity and string theory effective actions and the non-linear duality symmetries of these theories. Starting from a conventional tree level…

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…

We construct a gauge-invariant action for covariant type II string field theory in the NS-NS sector. Our construction is based on the large Hilbert space description and Zwiebach's string products are used. First, we rewrite the action for…

When a globally supersymmetric theory is scale invariant, it must possess a Virial supercurrent supermultiplet. The multiplet structure is analogous to the R-current supermultiplet in globally R-symmetric theories but we put extra "$i$"s in…

We derive leading terms in the effective actions describing the coupling of bulk supergravity fields to systems of arbitrary numbers of Dp-branes and D(p+4)-branes in type IIA/IIB string theory. We use these actions to investigate the…

We present a new application of Boundary String Field Theory: calculating the induced-gravity action on a D-brane. Using a simple quadratic tachyon potential to model a D-brane fluctuating in the flat target space we derive the effective…

We construct N=1 supergravity extensions of scalar field theories with higher-derivative kinetic terms. Special attention is paid to the auxiliary fields, whose elimination leads not only to corrections to the kinetic terms, but to new…

This review is devoted to strings and branes. Firstly, perturbative string theory is introduced. The appearance of various types of branes is discussed. These include orbifold fixed planes, D-branes and orientifold planes. The connection to…

The superembedding approach to $p$-branes is used to study a class of $p$-branes which have linear multiplets on the worldvolume. We refer to these branes as L-branes. Although linear multiplets are related to scalar multiplets (with 4 or 8…

In this note we provide a new perspective on the topological parts of several action functionals in string and M-theory. We show that rationally these can be viewed as large gauge transformations corresponding to variations of higher…

We give an elementary introduction to the structure of supergravity theories. This leads to a table with an overview of supergravity and supersymmetry theories in dimensions 4 to 11. The basic steps in constructing supergravity theories are…

A recollection of some theoretical developments that preceded and followed the first formulation of supergravity theory is presented. Special emphasis is placed on the impact of supergravity on the search for a unified theory of fundamental…

A new class of N=2 locally supersymmetric higher-derivative invariants is constructed based on logarithms of conformal primary chiral superfields. They characteristically involve a coupling to R_{\mu\nu}^2 - 1/3*R^2, which equals the…

We construct new superstring actions which are distinguished from standard superstrings by being space-time scale invariant. Like standard superstrings, they are also reparametrization invariant, space-time supersymmetric, and invariant…