Unitarity, Ward Identities, and New Quantization Rules of Supergravity

Nov, 1977
47 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 17 (1978) 1501
Report number:
  • ITP-SB-77-65

Citations per year

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Abstract: (APS)
Using diagrammatic techniques, we prove that supergravity is unitary to all orders in perturbation theory, subject to a generalized Becchi-Rouet-Stora (BRS) invariance of the effective action. In particular we show that new nonphysical modes in the propagator, not canceled by ghosts, decouple from the S matrix through appropriate Ward identities. We establish the generalized BRS invariance to order κ3 and give a general recipe for extension to higher order. This new invariance requires new quantization rules for supergravity: A quartic supersymmetry ghost coupling must be added to the action. The same term has been found previously by Fradkin and Vasiliev from a Hamiltonian formulation of supergravity.
  • FIELD THEORY: SUPERSYMMETRY
  • GRAVITATION: SUPERSYMMETRY
  • QUANTIZATION
  • FIELD THEORY: WARD IDENTITY
  • UNITARITY
  • PERTURBATION THEORY
  • PROPAGATOR: FERMION
  • SPIN: FERMION
  • S-MATRIX
  • INVARIANCE: BECCHI-ROUET-STORA