(Curvature)^2-Terms for Supergravity in Three Dimension

Abstract

We investigate the effect of (Curvature)^2-terms on N=1 and N=2 supergravity in three dimensions. We use the off-shell component fields (e_μ^m, ψ_μ, S) for N=1 and (e_μ^m, ψ_μ, ψ_μ^*, A_μ, B, B^*) for N=2 supergravity. The S, A_μand B are respectively a real scalar, a real vector and a complex scalar auxiliary fields. Both for N=1 and N=2, only two invariant actions for (Curvature)^2-terms exist, while only the actions with (Scalar Curvature)^2 are free of negative energy ghosts. Interestingly, the originally non-physical graviton and gravitino fields start propagating, together with the scalar field S for the N=1 case, or the complex scalar B and the longitudinal component \partial_μA^μfor N=2. These new propagating fields form two new physical massive supermultiplets of spins (1/2,0) with 2 x (1+1) degrees of freedom for the N=1 case, and two physical massive N=2 supermultiplets of spins (1/2,1/2,0,0) with 2 x (2+2) degrees of freedom for the N=2 case.