Supergravity actions with integral forms

Abstract

Integral forms provide a natural and powerful tool for the construction of supergravity actions. They are generalizations of usual differential forms and are needed for a consistent theory of integration on supermanifolds. The group geometrical approach to supergravity and its variational principle are reformulated and clarified in this language. Central in our analysis is the Poincaré dual of a bosonic manifold embedded into a supermanifold. Finally, using integral forms we provide a proof of Gates' so-called “Ectoplasmic Integration Theorem”, relating superfield actions to component actions.