Comments on supercurrent multiplets, supersymmetric field theories and supergravity

Abstract

We analyze various supersymmetry multiplets containing the supercurrent and the energy-momentum tensor. The most widely known such multiplet, the Ferrara-Zumino (FZ) multiplet, is not always well-defined. This can happen once Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms are present or when the Kähler form of the target space is not exact. We present a new multiplet ${\mathcal{S}_{\alpha \dot{\alpha }}}$ which always exists. This understanding of the supersymmetry current allows us to obtain new results about the possible IR behavior of supersymmetric theories. Next, we discuss the coupling of rigid supersymmetric theories to supergravity. When the theory has an FZ-multiplet or it has a global R-symmetry the standard formalism can be used. But when this is not the case such simple gauging is impossible. Then, we must gauge the current ${\mathcal{S}_{\alpha \dot{\alpha }}}$. The resulting theory has, in addition to the graviton and the gravitino, another massless chiral superfield Φ which is essential for the consistency of the theory. Some of the moduli of various string models play the role of Φ. Our general considerations, which are based on the consistency of supergravity, show that such moduli cannot be easily lifted thus leading to constraints on gravity/string models.