M-theory and Gauged Supergravities
Diederik Roest
TL;DR
Roest provides a coherent framework for gauged maximal supergravities arising from M-theory, detailing how torus, group-manifold, coset, and twisted reductions generate gaugings and, in some cases, field equations without an action. The work integrates a thorough review of maximal supergravity, its global symmetries, and dualities across $D o 11$ and $D o 10$, and then connects these structures to gauged theories via explicit reduction schemes, including CSO gaugings and domain-wall solutions with brane uplifts. A central theme is the role of scalar cosets $G/H$ and the hidden symmetry groups $G$, which organize the spectrum of fields and dictate possible deformations and gaugings, including subtleties in action existence. The results illuminate how M-/string-theory origins constrain lower-dimensional gauged supergravities and their brane interpretations, enriching the toolkit for AdS/CFT and related holographic/domain-wall constructions.
Abstract
We present a pedagogical discussion of the emergence of gauged supergravities from M-theory. First, a review of maximal supergravity and its global symmetries and supersymmetric solutions is given. Next, different procedures of dimensional reduction are explained: reductions over a torus, a group manifold and a coset manifold and reductions with a twist. Emphasis is placed on the consistency of the truncations, the resulting gaugings and the possibility to generate field equations without an action. Using these techniques, we construct a number of gauged maximal supergravities in diverse dimensions with a string or M-theory origin. One class consists of the CSO gaugings, which comprise the analytic continuations and group contractions of SO(n) gaugings. We construct the corresponding half-supersymmetric domain walls and discuss their uplift to D- and M-brane distributions. Furthermore, a number of gauged maximal supergravities are constructed that do not have an action.