Consistent boundary conditions for supergravity

Abstract

We derive the complete orbit of boundary conditions for supergravity models which is closed under the action of all local symmetries of these models, and which eliminates spurious field equations on the boundary. We show that the Gibbons-Hawking boundary conditions break local supersymmetry if one imposes local boundary conditions on all fields. Nonlocal boundary conditions are not ruled out. We extend our analysis to BRST symmetry and to the Hamiltonian formulation of these models.