The Slow Gravitino

Abstract

When the supersymmetry breaking sector is a fluid background, Lorentz invariance is broken spontaneously. The super-Higgs mechanism leads to a gravitino Lagrangian with Lorentz symmetry violating terms. We analyse the resulting field equations and constraints. We identify the physical spin 3/2 and spin 1/2 helicity states, derive their equations of motion and construct the propagator. The violation of Lorentz symmetry implies that the longitudinal mode has a non-relativistic dispersion relation, whose speed is lower than the speed of light. We briefly comment on possible implications to gravitino cosmology and phenomenology.

24 pages