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Introduction to supersymmetry and supergravity. (English) Zbl 0752.53045
SERC Schools Series, Department of Science and Technology. New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Limited. xvi, 240 p. (1992).
The present monograph originated from the author’s lectures at the Summer School organized by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, on supersymmetry and supergravity. The material is well organized in 14 chapters and two appendices. The first chapter is in fact a useful introduction, wherein the author presents shortly the main topics, studied in each chapter. Thus Chapters 2 and 3 are dealing with supersymmetry in quantum mechanics and $$SL(2,\mathbb{C})$$-representations of the Lorentz group respectively. Both the chiral superfields and vector superfields are presented in Chapter 4. Next, in Chapter 5 the local gauge symmetry is studied, that is, the invariant Lagrangians for both, the matter fields and the gauge fields. As usually, this is followed by the symmetry breaking. After a short description, in Chapter 7, of the functional methods in superspaces, the author presents in Chapter 8 the geometric objects of interest in studying supergravity. A sketch of the concepts, which have been used in the construction of the supergravity Lagrangians, is given in Chapter 9. In Chapter 10 there are presented models in supergravity and in Chapter 11 special attention is given to the supergravity in ten dimensions. Chapter 12 is concerned with the compactification of higher dimensional theories. Finally, the supersymmetry in two dimensions is presented in Chapter 13 and the author’s conclusions are brought together in Chapter 14. The book is addressed to those interested in studying supersymmetry and supergravity.
Reviewer: A.Bejancu (Iaşi)

##### MSC:
 53Z05 Applications of differential geometry to physics 81T60 Supersymmetric field theories in quantum mechanics 83E50 Supergravity 53-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to differential geometry 81-02 Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to quantum theory 83-02 Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to relativity and gravitational theory