Supergravity Coupled to Chiral Matter at One Loop

TL;DR

This paper calculates one-loop quantum corrections in supergravity with chiral matter, revealing how divergences can be absorbed into metric and Kähler potential redefinitions, especially in string-derived models.

Contribution

It extends previous one-loop calculations by evaluating all logarithmic divergences for arbitrary backgrounds, providing insights into renormalization in supergravity theories.

Findings

Divergences can be absorbed into metric and Kähler potential redefinitions.

Simplifications occur in string-inspired models with covariantly constant Kähler Riemann tensor.

Most divergences depend on the curvature of the Kähler metric.

Abstract

We extend earlier calculations of the one-loop contributions to the effective bose Lagrangian in supergravity coupled to chiral matter. We evaluate all logarithmically divergent contributions for arbitrary background scalar fields and space-time metric. We show that, with a judicious choice of gauge fixing and of the definition of the action expansion, much of the result can be absorbed into a redefinition of the metric and a renormalization of the K\"ahler potential. Most of the remaining terms depend on the curvature of the K\"ahler metric. Further simplification occurs in models obtained from superstrings in which the K\"ahler Riemann tensor is covariantly constant.