A New Venue of Spontaneous Supersymmetry Breaking in Supergravity

Abstract

We present a qualitatively new mechanism for dynamical spontaneous breakdown of supersymmetry in supergravity. Specifically, we construct a modified formulation of standard minimal N=1 supergravity as well as of anti-de Sitter supergravity in terms of a non-Riemannian spacetime volume-form (generally covariant integration measure density). The new supergravity formalism naturally triggers the appearance of a dynamically generated cosmological constant as an arbitrary integration constant which signifies spontaneous (dynamical) breaking of supersymmetry. Applying the new formalism to anti-de Sitter supergravity allows us to appropriately choose the above mentioned arbitrary integration constant so as to obtain simultaneously a very small effective observable cosmological constant as well as a large physical gravitino mass as required by modern cosmological scenarios for slowly expanding universe of the present epoch.