Timelike duality, $M'$-theory and an exotic form of the Englert solution

Abstract

Through timelike dualities, one can generate exotic versions of $M$-theory with different spacetime signatures. These are the $M^*$-theory with signature $(9,2,-)$, the $M'$-theory, with signature $(6,5,+)$ and the theories with reversed signatures $(1,10, -)$, $(2,9, +)$ and $(5,6, -)$. In $(s,t, \pm)$, $s$ is the number of space directions, $t$ the number of time directions, and $\pm$ refers to the sign of the kinetic term of the $3$ form. The only irreducible pseudo-riemannian manifolds admitting absolute parallelism are, besides Lie groups, the seven-sphere $S^7 \equiv SO(8)/SO(7)$ and its pseudo-riemannian version $S^{3,4} \equiv SO(4,4)/SO(3,4)$. [There is also the complexification $SO(8,\mathbb{C})/SO(7, \mathbb{C})$, but it is of dimension too high for our considerations.] The seven-sphere $S^7\equiv S^{7,0}$ has been found to play an important role in $11$-dimensional supergravity, both through the Freund-Rubin solution and the Englert solution that uses its remarkable parallelizability to turn on non trivial internal fluxes. The spacetime manifold is in both cases $AdS_4 \times S^7$. We show that $S^{3,4}$ enjoys a similar role in $M'$-theory and construct the exotic form $AdS_4 \times S^{3,4}$ of the Englert solution, with non zero internal fluxes turned on. There is no analogous solution in $M^*$-theory.