Eleven dimensional supergravity as a constrained topological field theory

TL;DR

The paper presents a first-order constrained topological field theory framework in which eleven-dimensional supergravity emerges from imposing local constraints on a topological sector whose constraint algebra reproduces the 11D super-Poincaré algebra with central charges. By introducing a three-form and its dual six-form, the authors encode central charges and construct a BF-type TQFT whose field equations enforce vanishing curvatures, enabling a canonical analysis that yields the desired supersymmetry algebra. Extending the theory with explicit constraints and a four-form sector recovers the Fre–Fré (CJS) 11D supergravity action, with the da^2 and related terms arising from the constraint structure. The work outlines canonical and spin-foam–style quantization paths within a background-independent setting and emphasizes the role of extended objects and holography as the theory’s natural semiclassical limit, pointing toward a nonperturbative formulation of M theory.

Abstract

We describe a new first-order formulation of D=11 supergravity which shows that that theory can be understood to arise from a certain topological field theory by the imposition of a set of local constraints on the fields, plus a lagrange multiplier term. The topological field theory is of interest as the algebra of its constraints realizes the D=11 supersymmetry algebra with central charges.