Target Space Supersymmetric Sigma Model Calculations

TL;DR

This paper reviews the covariant Green-Schwarz superstring formulation and derives the low-energy effective action of the heterotic superstring, maintaining manifest target-space supersymmetry, resulting in a supergravity-tensor multiplet theory.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed tree-level and one-loop derivation of the heterotic superstring's low-energy effective action with manifest target-space supersymmetry.

Findings

Derived the low-energy effective action as old-minimal supergravity coupled to tensor multiplet.

Maintained target-space supersymmetry throughout the derivation.

Connected the dilaton to the compensator multiplet.

Abstract

We briefly review the covariant formulation of the Green-Schwarz superstring by Berkovits, and describe how a detailed tree-level and one-loop analysis of this model leads, for the first time, to a derivation of the low-energy effective action of the heterotic superstring while keeping target-space supersymmetry manifest. The resulting low-energy theory is old-minimal supergravity coupled to tensor multiplet. The dilaton is part of the compensator multiplet.