Carrollian bosonic supergravity at order $α'$ and the universal cancellation of higher-curvature divergences

Abstract

We prove that the Carrollian limit of bosonic supergravity remains finite after including the four-derivative terms arising from the $α'$-corrections, and we explicitly construct the effective action. We also establish a universal criterion to determine the finiteness of higher-curvature contributions given by powers of the Riemann tensor, ${\rm Riem}_1 \cdots {\rm Riem}_N$, with $N>1$. As applications of this criterion, we prove that the purely gravitational $α'^2$- and $α'^3$-corrections admit a finite Carrollian limit, derive their explicit contributions to the action, and show that the terms proportional to $ζ(3)$ do not contribute to the Carrollian bosonic supergravity at order $α'^3$.