Higher fermions in supergravity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel approach using generalised geometry to describe higher-fermion terms in ten-dimensional $ =1$ supergravity, avoiding traditional supercovariantisation and superspace methods.

Contribution

It presents a new formalism that simplifies the expression of higher-fermion terms in supergravity using generalised geometry, with only five such terms identified.

Findings

Derived explicit expressions for higher-fermion terms

Achieved a formulation without supercovariantisation

Worked within the second-order formalism

Abstract

We show that the generalised geometry formalism provides a new approach to the description of higher-fermion terms in $\mathcal N=1$ supergravity in ten dimensions, which does not appeal to supercovariantisation or superspace. We find expressions containing only five higher-fermion terms across the action and supersymmetry transformations, working in the second-order formalism.