Will the real 4D, N=1 SG limit of superstring/M-theory please stand up?

At the component-level we study the 'beta-function-favored constraint' (beta FFC) formalism, suggested in 1988 as the most natural formulation for supergravity derived from more fundamental theories. We begin with the suggestion that beta FFC supergravity be identified with new minimal supergravity together with an additional chiral compensator multiplet. After U-A(1)-symmetry breaking, the non-propagating axion 2-form of new minimal supergravity becomes the propagating axion 2-form required by string theory. The final form of the theory is seen to uniquely allow four simultaneous features: (i) local supersymmetry, (ii) implementation of the Green-Schwarz mechanism, (iii) a supersymmetry-breaking order parameter chiral superfield, and (iv) a dilaton superpotential. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.