Spacetime Supersymmetry in a nontrivial NS-NS Superstring Background

Abstract

In this paper we consider superstring propagation in a nontrivial NS-NS background. We deform the world sheet stress tensor and supercurrent with an infinitesimal B_{μν} field. We construct the gauge-covariant super-Poincare generators in this background and show that the B_{μν} field spontaneously breaks spacetime supersymmetry. We find that the gauge-covariant spacetime momenta cease to commute with each other and with the spacetime supercharges. We construct a set of "magnetic" super-Poincare generators that are conserved for constant field strength H_{μνλ}, and show that these generators obey a "magnetic" extension of the ordinary supersymmetry algebra.

13 pages, Latex. Published version