Supergravity

Daniel Z. Freedman is Professor of Applied Mathematics and Physics at MIT. He has made many research contributions to supersymmetry and supergravity: he was a co-discoverer of the first supergravity theory in 1976. This discovery has been recognized by the award of the Dirac Medal and Prize in 1993 and the Dannie Heineman Prize of the American Physical Society in 2006. Antoine Van Proeyen is Head of the Theoretical Physics Section at the K.U. Leuven, Belgium. Since 1979, he has been involved in the construction of various supergravity theories, the resulting special geometries and their applications to phenomenology and cosmology.

'Over the last four decades, the theory of supergravity has emerged as a central ingredient in the search for the still-elusive unified theory of nature, and has led to many deep results in mathematical physics. This comprehensive, accessible text, written by the pioneers of the subject, fills a gap in the literature and will play an essential role in our future efforts to understand nature.' Andrew Strominger, Harvard University

• Part I. Relativistic Field Theory in Minkowski Spacetime: 1. Scalar field theory and its symmetries; 2. The Dirac field; 3. Clifford algebras and spinors; 4. The Maxwell and Yang-Mills gauge fields; 5. The free Rarita-Schwinger field; 6. N=1 global supersymmetry in D=4; Part II. Differential Geometry and Gravity: 7. Differential geometry; 8. The first and second order formulations of general relativity; Part III. Basic Supergravity: 9. N=1 pure supergravity in 4 dimensions; 10. D=11 supergravity; 11. General gauge theory; 12. Survey of supergravities; Part IV. Complex Geometry and Global SUSY: 13. Complex manifolds; 14. General actions with N=1 supersymmetry; Part V. Superconformal Construction of Supergravity Theories: 15. Gravity as a conformal gauge theory; 16. The conformal approach to N=1 supergravity; 17. Construction of the matter-coupled N=1 supergravity; Part VI. N=1 Supergravity Actions and Applications: 18. The physical N=1 matter-coupled supergravity; 19. Applications of N=1 supergravity; Part VII. Extended N=2 Supergravity: 20. Construction of the matter-coupled N=2 supergravity; 21. The physical N=2 matter-coupled supergravity; Part VIII. Classical Solutions and the AdS/CFT Correspondence: 22. Classical solutions of gravity and supergravity; 23. The AdS/CFT correspondence; Appendix; Index.