We give necessary conditions for the existence of degenerations between two complex Lie superalgebras of dimension $(m,n)$. As an application, we study the variety $\mathcal{ LS}^{ (2,2)}$ of complex Lie superalgebras of dimension $(2,2)$. First we give the algebraic classification and then obtain that $\mathcal{ LS}^{ (2,2)}$ is the union of seven irreducible components, three of which are the Zariski closures of rigid Lie superalgebras. As byproduct, we obtain an example of a nilpotent rigid Lie superalgebra, in contrast to the classical case where no example is known.
Categories: math.RA