PHYSICAL REVIEW D, VOLUME 65, 084032

group Supergravity and the Poincare

P. Salgado*
sica, Universidad de Concepcio n, Casilla 160-C, Concepcio n, Chile Departamento de F

M. Cataldo
sica, Universidad del B o-B o, Casilla 5-C, Concepcio n, Chile Departamento de F

S. del Campo
sica, Universidad Cato lica de Valpara so, Avda Brasil 2950, Valpara so, Chile Instituto de F Received 25 May 2001; published 8 April 2002 supergroup is proAn action for (3 1)-dimensional supergravity genuinely invariant under the Poincare posed. The construction of the action is carried out considering a bosonic Lagrangian invariant under both local translations as well as under diffeomorphism, and therefore the Poincare Lorentz rotations and local Poincare algebra closes off shell. Since the Lagrangian is invariant under the Poincare supergroup, the supersymmetry algebra closes off shell without the need for auxiliary elds. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.65.084032 PACS numbers: 04.65.e

I. INTRODUCTION

Recently it has been shown, by means of a rst-order formalism, that the three- and ve-dimensional supergravi carro and Townsend 1 and by Chamties studied by Achu seddine 2, respectively, as well as higher dimensional theories can be written as Chern-Simons theories 3,4. The action for supergravity in 2 1 dimensions S D ), with a two-component Majo ( abc R ab e c 4 rana spinor, is invariant under Lorentz rotations, Poincare translations, and supersymmetry transformations. The a ab a , the spin connection , and the gravitino dreibein e transform as components of a connection for the super Poin group. This means that the supersymmetry algebra imcare plied by the corresponding supersymmetry transformations is algebra, i.e., the supersymmetry algebra the super Poincare closes off shell without the need for auxiliary elds. The action for supergravity in 3 1 dimensions S e a a 5 D ), where is the Majo ( abcd R ab e c e d 4 rana conjugation of , is not invariant under local Poincare translations. The invariance of the action requires, in accordance with the 1.5 formalism, the vanishing of the supertorsion, which implies that the connection is no longer an independent variable. Rather, its variation is given in terms of e a and , and differs from that dictated by group theory. As a consequence the supersymmetry algebra, acting on the spinor eld, closes off shell only with auxiliary elds. The construction of a supergravity theory without auxiliary elds in 3 1 dimensions has remained as an interesting open problem. This problem was studied a long time ago by Kaku, Townsend, and van Nieuwenhuizen 5,6. They found that the action for conformal supergravity is invariant under both local supersymmetries ( Q and S ) corresponding to the

square roots of the translations P and conformal boosts K ( Q P and S K ). They also showed that the algebra of conformal supergravity closes off shell, unlike the gauge al supergravity. For a deeper analysis of this gebra of Poincare subject, see Refs. 5,6. It is the purpose of this paper to show that it is also possible to construct four-dimensional supergravity without auxiliary elds provided one chooses the bosonic Lagrangian in an appropriate way. In fact, the correct Lagrangian for the bosonic sector is the Hilbert Lagrangian constructed with the help of the one-form vierbein dened by Stelle and West 7 and by Grignani and Nardelli 8. This vierbein, also called the solder form 7,9 was considered as a smooth map between the tangent space to the space-time manifold M at a point P with coordinates x and the tangent space to the internal AdS space at the point whose AdS coordinates are a ( x ), as the point P ranges over the whole manifold M. a ( x ) is Figure 1 of Ref. 7 illustrates that such a vierbein V the matrix of the map betweeen the tangent space T x ( M ) to the space-time manifold at x and the tangent space T ( x ) ( G / H x ) to the internal AdS space G / H x at the point n ( x ), whose explicit form is given by Eq. 3.19 of Ref. 7. Taking the limit m 0 in Eq. 3.19 of Ref. 7, we obtain a a ( x ) D a e , which is the map between the tangent V space T x ( M ) to the space-time manifold at x and the tangent space T ( x ) ( ISO(3,1)/SO(3,1) x ) to the internal Poin space ISO(3,1)/SO(3,1) x at the point n ( x ). The same care result was obtained in Ref. 8 by gauging the action of a free particle dened in the internal Minkowski space.

GROUP II. GRAVITY AND THE POINCARE

*Electronic address: pasalgad@udec.cl

Electronic address: mcataldo@ubiobio.cl Electronic address: sdelcamp@ucv.cl

In this section we shall review some aspects of the torsion-free condition in gravity. The main point of this section is to display the differences in the invariances of the Hilbert action when different denitions of the vierbein are used.
65 084032-1 2002 The American Physical Society

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P. SALGADO, M. CATALDO, AND S. DEL CAMPO A. The torsion-free condition in general relativity

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 65 084032

group P a and J ab satisfy The generators of the Poincare the Lie algebra
P a , P b 0, J ab , P c ac P b bc P a , J ab , J cd ac J bd bc J ad bd J ac ad J bc .

S EH 2
2

abcd R ab e c e d abcd R ab T c d 11

where we see that the invariance of the action requires imposing the torsion-free condition
b T a De a de a a b e 0,

Here the operators carry Lorentz indices not related to coordinate transformations. The Yang-Mills connection for this group is given by 1 A A A T A e a P a ab J ab . 2 2

12

transforwhich has effects on the algebra of local Poincare mations. If we impose this condition, then the local Poincare translations take the form of a local change of coordinates, as we can see from the corresponding transformation laws
b tlp e a D a a be , b a tgc e a D a a be T .

Using the algebra 1 and the general form for the gauge transformations on A,

13 14

A d A ,
with 1 a P a ab J ab , 2

The condition T a 0 permits replacing local Poincare translations by a local change of coordinates which acts together with the local Lorentz transformations on the gauge elds as
b e a D a a be ,

translations, transwe obtain that e a and ab , under Poincare form as

ab D ab R ab .

15

e a D a,
and under Lorentz rotations as
b e a a be ,

ab 0,

translations can The commutator of two local Poincare now be computed and gives
2 , 1

16

ab D ab ,

ab with ab 1 2 R . Furthermore, one nds

where D is the covariant derivative in the spin connection ab . The corresponding curvature is F F A T A dA AA 1 T a P a R ab J ab 2 where
b T a De a de a a be

ab , c d with a b ba

17

and
2 , 1 3 with 3 1 , 2 .

18

is the torsion one-form, and

cb R ab d ab a c

is the curvature two-form. The Hilbert action S EH

abcd R ab e c e d

10

is invariant under diffeomorphism and under Lorentz rota translations. In fact, tions, but is not invariant under Poincare

This means that, for nonvanishing R ab , the local Poincare translations no longer commute, but their commutator is a local Lorentz transformation proportional to the Riemann curvature. The rest of the algebra is unchanged. Thus an algeeffect of the torsion-free condition is that the Poincare bra closes only on shell, but does not close off shell. Another consequence of the torsion-free condition 4 is that it is an equation of motion of the action, which implies that the invariance of the action under diffeomorphisms does not result from the transformation properties of the elds alone, but that it is a property of their dynamics as well. The problem stems from the identication between diffeomorphism, which is a genuine invariance of the action, and local translation, which is not a genuine invariance. Poincare The torsion-free condition breaks local translation invariance in Lorentz space, and uniquely identies the origin of the local Lorentz frame with the space-time point at which it is constructed.

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 GROUP SUPERGRAVITY AND THE POINCARE group B. Gravity invariant under the Poincare

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 65 084032

Now we show that the formalism proposed by Stelle and West 7 and by Grignani and Nardelli 8 SWGN leads to a formulation of general relativity where Hilberts action is translations and under invariant both under local Poincare local Lorentz transformations as well as under diffeomor algebra closes off shell. phism, and therefore the Poincare The key ingredients of the SWGN formalism are the so coordinates a ( x ) which behave as vectors called Poincare under ISO3,1 and are involved in the denition of the oneform vierbein V a , which is not identied with the component e a of the gauge potential, but is given by
b a V a D a e a d a a b e .

The variations of the action with respect to a , e a , and lead to the following equations:
ab

abcd T b R cd 0, abcd V b R cd 0, [ aecd b ] V e R cd abcd V c T d 0, which reproduce the correct Einstein equations 8: T a DV a 0, abcd V b R cd 0.

29 30 31

32 33

19

translations change Since a , e a , ab under local Poincare as

translations is The commutator of two local Poincare given by

2 , 1 0,

a a ,

e a D a,

ab 0,

20

34

and under local Lorentz rotations change as

b a a b , b e a a be ,

ab D ab ,

21

translations now commute. The rest of i.e., the local Poincare algebra closes the algebra is unchanged. Thus the Poincare off shell. This fact has deep consequences in supergravity.
III. SUPERGRAVITY IN 3 1 DIMENSIONS WITHOUT AUXILIARY FIELDS

we have that the vierbein V a is invariant under local Poincare translations,

V a 0,
and, under local Lorentz rotations, transforms as
b V a a bV .

22

23

The space-time metric is postulated to be

a b g ab V V

24

In this section we shall review some aspects of the torsion-free condition in supergravity. The main point of this section is to show that the SWGN formalism permits constructing a supergravity invariant under local Lorentz rota translations as well as under tions and under local Poincare local supersymmetry transformations. This means that the algebra closes off shell without the need for super Poincare any auxiliary elds.
A. The torsion-free condition in N 1 supergravity

with ab ( 1,1,1,1). Thus the corresponding curvature is given by Eq. 7, but now Eq. 8 does not correspond to the space-time torsion because the vierbein is not given by e a . The space-time torsion T a is given by T a DV a T a R ab b . The Hilbert action can be rewritten as S EH 25

D 3 1, N 1 supergravity is based on the super poin algebra care

P a , P b 0, J ab , P c ac P b bc P a ,

35 36 37 38 39 40

abcd V a V b R cd

26

J ab , J cd ac J bd bc J ad bd J ac ad J bc ,

which is invariant under general coordinate transformations and under local Lorentz rotations, as well as under local translations. In fact, Poincare

1 Q , J ab , Q ab 2
P a , Q 0,

S EH

S EH 2

abcd R ab V c V d , abcd R ab V c V d 0.

27 28

1 Pa . Q , Q a 2 The connection for this group is given by 1 . A A A T A e a P a ab J ab Q 2

Thus the action is genuinely invariant under the Poincare group without imposing a torsion-free condition.
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41

P. SALGADO, M. CATALDO, AND S. DEL CAMPO

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 65 084032

Using the algebra 40 and the general form for gauge transformations on A,

The variation of Eq. 51 with respect to e a , ab , leads to the equations for supergravity

ADdA,,
with 1 , a P a ab J ab Q 2
a ab

42

5 a D 0, abcd e b R cd 2
1 a d 0 where T a T a abcd e c T , 2

52 53 54

43

translations we obtain that e , , and under Poincare transform as

5 e a a D 0.

e a D a,
under Lorentz rotations as

ab 0,

0;

44

a b a Since g e e ab and e a , we can write Eqs. 51, 52, 53, and 54 as

5 D , L 2 gR 4
1 R g R 2 5 D 0, 2

55 56 57

b a be ,

D ,
ab ab

1 ab ab ; 4

45

and under supersymmetry transformations as

1 T T 0, 2
where T [ ] , and

e a a ,

1 2

ab 0,

D.

46

5 D 0.

58

The consistency of the propagation of the massless RaritaSchwinger eld in a classical gravitational background eld is proved by contracting its eld equation

5e a aD 0
by the covariant derivative D, D 5 e a a D 0,

47

The action 51 is invariant under diffeomorphism, under local Lorentz rotations, and under local supersymmetry transtransformations, but it is not invariant under Poincare translations, lations. In fact, under local Poincare

S2
48

5 a T a D 5 e a a DD 0.

S2

1 c abcd R ab T c d surf. term, 59 2 c d surf. term. abcd R ab T 60

The Einstein equation and the Bianchi identity reduce Eq. 48 to an identity. Equation 47 does not take into account the back reaction of the spin-3/2 eld on the gravitational eld. It turns out that this back reaction of the spin-3/2 eld on the gravitational eld and on itself can be taken into account by a generalizing of Weyls lemma 10: 1 a a a a b a b De e e e 0, 4 49

The invariance of the action requires the vanishing of the torsion a 0, T 61

which implies that the corresponding torsion is given by 1 a a T a . T 2 50

which implies that the connection is no longer an independent variable. Rather, its variation is given in terms of e a and , and differs from the one dictated by group theory. An effect of the supertorsion-free condition on the local superalgebra is that all commutators on e a , close Poincare except the commutator of two local supersymmetry transformations on the gravitino. For this commutator on the vierbein one nds 1 1 1 2 a 1 . 2 aD 1 1 a D 2 D 1 , 2 e a 2 2 2 62
1 With a 2 2 a 1 , we can write

Supergravity is the theory of the gravitational eld interacting with a spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger eld 11,12. In the simplest case there is just one spin-3/2 Majorana fermion, usually called the gravitino. The theory is described by the action S

1 , 2 e a D a .

63

abcd e a e b R cd 4 5e a aD .

51

This means that, in the absence of the torsion-free condition, the commutator of two local supersymmetry transformations

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 GROUP SUPERGRAVITY AND THE POINCARE

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 65 084032

translation. However, the on the vierbein is a local Poincare action is invariant by construction under general coordinate translations. transformations and not under local Poincare The general coordinate transformation and the local Poincare translation can be identied if we impose the torsion-free condition: since a e a we can write 1 a ab a D a e a e e b 2
a T .

The massless Rarita-Schwinger eld is a spin-3/2 eld that can be described by a Majorana vector-spinor that satises the equation

5V a ad 0
where now V a D a e a.

67

68

64

a This means that, if T 0, then the following commutator is valid:

The coupling of this eld to a gravitational eld satisfying the free Einstein equations is achieved by minimal coupling. According to this prescription, it is possible to generalize the free spin-3/2 equation consistently to include interaction with a gravitational background eld, as

Q 1 , Q 2 GCT LLT

ab Q

5 V a a D 0.

69

65

where we can see that P in Q , Q P , i.e., local Poincare translations, is replaced by general coordinate transformations in addition to two other gauge symmetries. The structure constants dened by this result are eld dependent 6, which is a property of supergravity not present in Yang-Mills theory. The commutator of two local supersymmetry transformations on the gravitino is given by 1 1 1 , 2 ab 2 1 ab ab 1 2 2 2 ab . 66

Consistency of the propagation of a spin-3/2 particle in a classical gravitational background eld is proved by contracting Eq. 69 with another derivative D: D 5 V a a D 0,

5 a T a D 5 V a a DD 0.

70

a 0 leads to ab ab ( e , ) which imThe condition T plies that the connection is no longer an independent variable and its variation ( ) ab is given in terms of ( ) e a and ( ) . Introducing ( ) ab ( e , ) into Eq. 66 we see that, without the auxiliary elds, the gauge algebra does not close, as is shown by Eq. 10 of Ref. 6. Therefore the condition a 0 breaks not only local Poincare invariance, but also the T supersymmetry transformations. We show that, if we use the SWGN formalism, the gauge algebra closes without the auxiliary elds because it is not necessary to impose the torsionfree condition.
group B. Supergravity invariant under the Poincare

The Einstein equation and the Bianchi identity reduce Eq. 70 to an identity. Of course, using the free Einstein equation implies that we have not taken into account the back reaction of the spin-3/2 eld on the gravitational eld. In that sense the gravitational eld here is just a xed classical background eld. The more general situation, in which both the gravitational eld and the Rarita-Schwinger eld are dynamical, is the situation encountered in supergravity. Equation 69 does not take into account the back reaction of the spin-3/2 eld on the gravitational eld; namely, the spin-3/2 eld itself can act as a source for the gravitational eld. Since the spin-3/2 eld is coupled to the gravitational eld through the covariant derivative D, this also induces a coupling of the gravitino eld with itself. It turns out that this back reaction of the spin-3/2 eld on the gravitational eld and on itself can be taken into account by generalizing Weyls lemma 10: 1 a a a a b a V b D V V V 0. 71 4 This implies that the corresponding torsion is given by 1 a a T a T . 2 72

Analogous to the pure gravity case, the action for supergravity in 3 1 dimensions is not invariant under local Poin translations. The invariance of the action requires, in care a, accord with 1.5 formalism, the vanishing of the torsion T which implies that the connection is no longer an independent variable. Rather, its variation is given in terms of e a and , and differs from the one dictated by group theory. As a consequence the supersymmetry algebra, acting on the spinor eld, closes off shell only with auxiliary elds. How to construct supergravity in four dimensions without auxiliary elds is an interesting open problem. Now we will show that this construction is possible.

Within the SWGN formalism the action for supergravity can be rewritten as S

abcd V a V b R cd 4 5V a aD

73

which is invariant under local Lorentz rotations:

b V a a bV ,

ab ab ,

1 4

74

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P. SALGADO, M. CATALDO, AND S. DEL CAMPO

1 ab b i.e., under ab D ab , e a a b e , 4 ab , and a b a translations b ; under local Poincare

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 65 084032

From the action 73 and Eqs. 79, 52, and 53 we can see that, once the gauge a 0 is chosen, from the equations V a D a e a, T a DV a , a T a , and that the it follows that V a e a , T a T a De a , T Lagrangian of the action 73 takes the form 51 and Eqs. 79,80,81 take the forms 52,53,54, which are the equations for supergravity theory as developed in Refs. 6,11,12. The action reduces to the usual action for supergravity if we choose a 0, i.e., if we uniquely identify the origin of the local Lorentz frame with the space-time point at which it is constructed.

V a 0,
ab a a

0,
a a

75

i.e., under 0, e D , 0, and ; and under local supersymmetry transformations

V a ,
a
1 2

D,

76

1 a , D , and a 0. i.e., under ab 0, e a 2 This means that the action 73 is invariant without the need to impose a torsion-free condition. We can see that, in superalgebra, all commutators on e a , the local Poincare close including the commutators of two local supersymmetry transformations on the vierbein and on the gravitino. In fact, for this commutator on the vierbein one nds

1 , 2 e a D a

77
IV. COMMENTS

2 a 1 , i.e., the commutator of two local superwhere a symmetry transformations on the vierbein is a local Poincare translation. The commutator of two local supersymmetry transformations on the gravitino is given by 1 1 , 2 ab 2 1 ab 2 1 ab 1 2 ab 0 2 78

( ) ab 0 in accordance with group theory. From the transformation laws of the elds ab , a one can
see that the commutators of local supersymmetry transformations on ab , a close. This proves that, if we use the SWGN formalism, the gauge algebra closes without auxiliary elds, because it is not necessary to impose the torsion-free condition. In the context of a genuinely rst-order formalism, i.e., where the spin connection ab transforms independently of the graviton eld e a , of the gravitino eld , and of the eld , the eld equations can be obtained by varyPoincare , e a , and ab and with respect ing Eq. 73 with respect to to a :

because now the connection is an independent variable, i.e.,

5 V a a D 0, 5 a D 0, abcd V b R cd 2

79 80

We have shown in this work that the successful formalism used by Stelle and West 7 and by Grignani and Nardelli 8 to construct an action for (3 1) dimensional gravity invari group can be generalized to superant under the Poincare gravity in 3 1 dimensions. The extension to other even dimensions remains an open problem. The main result of this paper is that we have shown that, in order to construct a supergravity theory invariant under local Lorentz rotations translations as well as under local and under local Poincare supersymmetry transformations, it is necessary to use the SWGN formalism. This means using the vierbein V a which coordiinvolves in its denition the so called Poincare nates a ( x ). This eld can be interpreted, at the supergravity level, as some kind of auxiliary eld which permits the supersymmetry algebra to close off shell without the need for any auxiliary elds. It is perhaps interesting to note that, if one considers, a b a V ab and V a , one can following Ref. 8, g V write the Lagrangian of the action 73 in the form 55. This means that, if one considers the theory constructed in terms of the space-time metric g and the gravitino eld , ignoring the underlying formulation, the theory described in our paper is completely equivalent to the theory developed in Refs. 11,12,6. No trace of the new structure of the vierbein existing in the underlying formulation of the theory can be found at the metric level. This could permit one to interpret translation as some kind of hidden symthe local Poincare metry of the theory when it is constructed in terms of the space-time metric g .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

d [ aecd b ] V e R cd 2 [ b 5 a ] D 0. 81 abcd V c T The eld equation corresponding to the variation of Eq. 73 with respect to a is not an independent equation. In fact, taking the covariant derivative D of Eq. 80 we obtain the same equation that one obtains by varying the action 73 with respect to a .

This work was supported in part by FONDECYT through n Grants No. 1010485 and No. 1000305, in part by Direccio de Investigacion, Universidad de Concepcion through Grant No. 98.011.023-1.0, and in part by UCV through Grant UCV-DGIP No. 123.752/00.

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 GROUP SUPERGRAVITY AND THE POINCARE carro and P.K. Townsend, Phys. Lett. B 180, 89 1 A. Achu 1986. 2 A.H. Chamseddine, Nucl. Phys. B346, 213 1990 3 S. Deser and J.H. Kay, Phys. Lett. 120B, 97 1983. ados, R. Troncoso, and J. Zanelli, Phys. Rev. D 54, 4 M. Ban 2605 1996. 5 M. Kaku, P.K. Townsend, and P. van Nieuwenhuizen, Phys. Rev. D 17, 3179 1978; Phys. Lett. 69B, 304 1977; Phys. Rev. Lett. 39, 1109 1977. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 65 084032 P. Van Nieuwenhuizen, Phys. Rep. 68, 189 1981. K.S. Stelle and P.C. West, Phys. Rev. D 21, 1466 1980. G. Grignani and G. Nardelli, Phys. Rev. D 45, 2719 1992. E. Witten, Nucl. Phys. B311, 46 1988. H.J. Treder, Found. Phys. 1, 77 1970. S. Deser and B. Zumino, Phys. Lett. 62B, 335 1976. D.Z. Freedman and P. Van Nieuwenhuizen, Phys. Rev. D 13, 3214 1976.

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