This book provides a comprehensive, detailed and self-contained account of four dimensional simple supersymmetry and supergravity. It will be an indispensable source of reference for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral and faculty researchers alike working in quantum field theory, high energy physics, gravity theory, mathematical physics and applied mathematics. The authors develop the subject in its superfield formulation but where appropriate for illustration, analogy and comparison with conventional field theory, they use the component formulation. Throughout the book the authors develop their material in detail with calculation and full discussions of the fundamental ideas and motivations. They discuss many subjects which until now could only be found in the research literature. In addition they present a plethora of new results. The result is the most comprehensive book yet produced on the fundamentals of supersymmetry and supergravity. After studying this book readers should be well prepared to pursue independent research in any area of supersymmetry and supergravity.

This book offers a comprehensive discussion of developments at the interface of particle physics, supergravity, and cosmology, for graduates and researchers.

Ideas and Methods of Supersymmetry and Supergravity: Or a Walk Through Superspace provides a comprehensive, detailed, and self-contained account of four dimensional simple supersymmetry and supergravity. Throughout the book, the authors cultivate their material in detail with calculations and full discussions of the fundamental ideas and motivations. They develop the subject in its superfield formulations but where appropriate for illustration, analogy, and comparison with conventional field theory, they use the component formulation. The book discusses many subjects that, until now, can only be found in the research literature. In addition, it presents a plethora of new results. Combining classical and quantum field theory with group theory, differential geometry, and algebra, the book begins with a solid mathematical background that is used in the rest of the book. The next chapter covers algebraic aspects of supersymmetry and the concepts of superspace and superfield. In the following chapters, the book presents classical and quantum superfield theory and the superfield formulation of supergravity. A synthesis of results and methods developed in the book, the final chapter concludes with the theory of effective action in curved superspaces. After studying this book, readers should be well prepared to pursue independent research in any area of supersymmetry and supergravity. It will be an indispensable source of reference for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral faculty, and researchers involved in quantum field theory, high energy physics, gravity theory, mathematical physics, and applied mathematics.

This book is devoted to a pedagogical introduction to supergravity from a practical perspective. As a particular feature of the book, the authors provide explicit details, which makes the computations easier to follow for the interested reader. Each chapter has summary tables, which contain the main results and, in addition, we have collected important or additional material in the appendix.In the first part of the book, the N=1 supergravity Lagrangian in four spacetime dimensions is derived. Closely following the reference of Wess and Bagger, we use the superspace approach. All steps, from the geometric principles of curved superspace to the field redefinition necessary to obtain a correctly normalised Lagrangian, are carefully analysed. Comparisons with other methods, such as conformal supergravity, are also given.In the second part of the book, we address more phenomenological aspects of supergravity such as supersymmetry breaking, no-scale supergravity, super-Higgs mechanism, etc. Finally, the relationship between supergravity and particle physics, and cosmology are analysed.

Supergravity, together with string theory, is one of the most significant developments in theoretical physics. Written by two of the most respected workers in the field, this is the first-ever authoritative and systematic account of supergravity. The book starts by reviewing aspects of relativistic field theory in Minkowski spacetime. After introducing the relevant ingredients of differential geometry and gravity, some basic supergravity theories (D=4 and D=11) and the main gauge theory tools are explained. In the second half of the book, complex geometry and N=1 and N=2 supergravity theories are covered. Classical solutions and a chapter on AdS/CFT complete the book. Numerous exercises and examples make it ideal for Ph.D. students, and with applications to model building, cosmology and solutions of supergravity theories, it is also invaluable to researchers. A website hosted by the authors, featuring solutions to some exercises and additional reading material, can be found at www.cambridge.org/supergravity.

Supersymmetry is an extension of the successful Standard Model of particle physics; it relies on the principle that fermions and bosons are related by a symmetry, leading to an elegant predictive structure for quantum field theory. This textbook provides a comprehensive and pedagogical introduction to supersymmetry and spinor techniques in quantum field theory. By utilising the two-component spinor formalism for fermions, the authors provide many examples of practical calculations relevant for collider physics signatures, anomalies, and radiative corrections. They present in detail the component field and superspace formulations of supersymmetry and explore related concepts, including the theory of extended Higgs sectors, models of grand unification, and the origin of neutrino masses. Numerous exercises are provided at the end of each chapter. Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this volume provides a clear and unified treatment of theoretical concepts that are at the frontiers of high energy particle physics.

In June 1997, fifty-seven of the world's best students gathered at TASI '97 in Boulder, Colorado, USA, to attend an intensive series of lectures on the theory and phenomenology of supersymmetry, supergravity and supercolliders. This book contains the proceedings of that school. It is aimed at advanced graduate students as well as postdoctoral and other researchers. It provides a snapshot of the state-of-the-art in an active area of high energy particle theory, and may perhaps serve as a preview of physics to be discovered in the next decade.