Abstract :
A new formulation of simple D = 4 supergravity in terms of the geometry of superspace is presented. The formulation is derived from the gauge theory of the inhomogeneous orthosymplectic group IOSp(3, 1|4) on a (4, 4)-dimensional base supermanifold by imposing constraints and taking a limit. Both the constraints and the limiting procedure have a clear a priori physical motivation, arising from the relationship between IOSp(3, 1|4) and the super Poincare group. The construction has similarities with the spacetime formulation of Newtonian gravity.
