Matter Couplings in Supergravity Theories.

The N = 1 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model is coupled to supergravity. The results are expressed in the language of Kahler geometry. Topological considerations constrain the scalar fields to lie on a Kahler manifold of restricted type, or a Hodge manifold. For topologically nontrivial manifolds, this leads to the quantization of Newton's constant in terms of the scalar self-coupling. The isometries of the N = 1 model are gauged. This gives a geometrical picture of what might be called the gauge invariant supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model. It also provides a new interpretation of the Fayet-Iliopoulos D-term. The gauge invariant supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model is coupled to N = 1 supergravity. This leads to a deeper understanding of the connections between supergravity, R-invariance and the Fayet-Iliopoulos D-term. It also provides a foundation for phenomenological studies of supergravity theories. Finally, the N = 2 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model is coupled to supergravity. The scalar fields are found to to lie on a negatively curved quaternionic manifold. This implies that matter self-couplings that are allowed in N = 2 supersymmetry are forbidden in N = 2 supergravity, and vice versa.