The superspace geometry of gravitational Chern-Simons forms and their couplings to linear multiplets: a self-contained presentation (Q1283732)

In this highly recommended review, giving a concise and complete presentation, the authors exhibit the relevance of two important points of the subject: (1) The use of the structural analogy of Chern-Simons forms in supersymmetric theory with the geometry of the 3-form multiplet coupled to supergravity allows to simplify considerably the geometric structure of supersymmetric Chern-Simons forms coupled to linear multiplets and to cope with otherwise extremely complex technical problems. (2) The relevance of the above geometrical description for the construction of supersymmetric dynamical theories with gravitational Chern-Simons forms. The formulation presented in this paper is quite general. It can be employed in the construction of a large class of dynamical theories involving any kind of gravitational Chern-Simons forms in the presence of arbitrary matter and linear multiplet couplings. As an instructive illustration of the interplay of the geometry and dynamics, basic features of the model with Chern-Simons forms of Gauss-Bonnet type are described. The paper consists of six sections and four appendices. From the contents: Introduction. Preliminaries: Global supersymmetry. The basic superspace structures. Gravitational Chern-Simons forms in superspace. Dynamics: Green-Schwarz for Gauss-Bonnet. Conclusion and outlook. Appendices.