An Sl(3,R) multiplet of 8-dimensional type II supergravity theories and the gauged supergravity inside

The so-called ``massive 11-dimensional supergravity'' theory gives, for one Killing vector, Romans' massive 10-dimensional supergravity in 10 dimensions, for two Killing vectors an Sl(2,Z) multiplet of massive 9-dimensional supergravity theories that can be obtained by standard generalized dimensional reduction type IIB supergravity and has been shown to contain a gauged supergravity. We consider a straightforward generalization of this theory to three Killing vectors and a 3\times 3 symmetric mass matrix and show that it gives an Sl(3,Z) multiplet of 8-dimensional supergravity theories that contain an SO(3) gauged supergravity which is, in some way, the dual to the one found by Salam and Sezgin by standard generalized dimensional reduction.Comment: Latex2e, 20 pages, reference correcte

N=2 Chiral Supergravity in (10 + 2)-Dimensions As Consistent Background for Super (2 + 2)-Brane

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.Comment: 14 pages, LATEX, with minor corrections in typos and expression

On Asymmetric Orbifolds and the D=5 No-modulus Supergravity

We examine whether any type II asymmetric orbifolds have the same massless spectrum as the dimensional reduction of D=5 simple supergravity, which, besides the eleven-dimensional supergravity, is the only known supergravity above four dimensions with no moduli. We attempt to construct such models by further twisting the orbifolds which yield D=4, N=4 pure supergravity to find that, unfortunately, none of the models have that spectrum. We provide supergravity arguments explaining why this is so. As a by-product, we list all possible momentum-winding lattices that give D=4, N=4 pure supergravity.Comment: 10 page

Higher derivative couplings and massive supergravity in three dimensions

We develop geometric superspace settings to construct arbitrary higher derivative couplings (including R^n terms) in three-dimensional supergravity theories with N=1,2,3 by realising them as conformal supergravity coupled to certain compensators. For all known off-shell supergravity formulations, we construct supersymmetric invariants with up to and including four derivatives. As a warming-up exercise, we first give a new and completely geometric derivation of such invariants in N=1 supergravity. Upon reduction to components, they agree with those given in arXiv:0907.4658 and arXiv:1005.3952. We then carry out a similar construction in the case of N=2 supergravity for which there exist two minimal formulations that differ by the choice of compensating multiplet: (i) a chiral scalar multipet; (ii) a vector multiplet. For these formulations all four derivative invariants are constructed in completely general and gauge independent form. For a general supergravity model (in the N=1 and minimal N=2 cases) with curvature-squared and lower order terms, we derive the superfield equations of motion, linearise them about maximally supersymmetric backgrounds and obtain restrictions on the parameters that lead to models for massive supergravity. We use the non-minimal formulation for N = 2 supergravity (which corresponds to a complex linear compensator) to construct a novel consistent theory of massive supergravity. In the case of N = 3 supergravity, we employ the off-shell formulation with a vector multiplet as compensator to construct for the first time various higher derivative invariants. These invariants may be used to derive models for N = 3 massive supergravity. As a bi-product of our analysis, we also present superfield equations for massive higher spin multiplets in (1,0), (1,1) and (2,0) anti-de Sitter superspaces.Comment: 84 pages; V3: references added, minor modifications, published versio

False Vacuum Chaotic Inflation: The New Paradigm?

Recent work is reported on inflation model building in the context of supergravity and superstrings, with special emphasis on False Vacuum (`Hybrid') Chaotic Inflation. Globally supersymmetric models do not survive in generic supergravity theories, but fairly simple conditions can be formulated which do ensure successful supergravity inflation. The conditions are met in some of the versions of supergravity that emerge from superstrings.Comment: 4 pages, LATEX, LANCASTER-TH 94-1

On Maximal Massive 3D Supergravity

We construct, at the linearized level, the three-dimensional (3D) N = 4 supersymmetric "general massive supergravity" and the maximally supersymmetric N = 8 "new massive supergravity". We also construct the maximally supersymmetric linearized N = 7 topologically massive supergravity, although we expect N = 6 to be maximal at the non-linear level.Comment: 33 page