Supersymmetry of a different kind

Abstract

A local supersymmetric action for a (2+1)-dimensional system including gravity, the electromagnetic field and a Dirac spin-1/2 field is presented. The action is a Chern-Simons form for a connection of the OSp(2|2) group. All the fields enter as parts of the connection, that transforms in the adjoint representation of the gauge group. The system is off-shell invariant under local (gauge) supersymmetry. Although the supersymmetry is locally realized, there is no spin-3/2 gravitino, and is therefore not supergravity. The fields do not necessarily form supersymmetric doublets of equal mass, and moreover, the fermion may acquire mass through the coupling with geometry, while the bosons - the U(1) field and the spin connection - remain massless.