Axion gauge symmetries and generalized Chern-Simons terms in N=1 supersymmetric theories

TL;DR

This paper derives the Lagrangian structure of N=1 supersymmetric theories with gauged axion symmetries, revealing new generalized Chern-Simons terms relevant in string compactifications and M-theory reductions.

Contribution

It introduces generalized Chern-Simons terms into the superspace formulation of N=1 theories with gauged axion symmetries, extending previous models.

Findings

Identification of new generalized Chern-Simons terms

Application to supergravity from string flux compactifications

Dual formulation with axion chiral multiplets

Abstract

We compute the form of the Lagrangian of N=1 supersymmetric theories with gauged axion symmetries. It turns out that there appear generalized Chern-Simons terms that were not considered in previous superspace formulations of general N=1 theories. Such gaugings appear in supergravities arising from flux compactifications of superstrings, as well as from Scherk-Schwarz generalized dimensional reduction in M-theory. We also present the dual superspace formulation where axion chiral multiplets are dualized into linear multiplets.