arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Murat Gunaydin.
This is an expanded and updated version of the talk I gave at the meeting organized at CERN on April 27-28, 2015 dedicated to honoring the memory of Bruno Zumino and his legacy. In this talk I review the emergence of exceptional structures and non-associative algebras in quantum mechanics, supergravity and M/superstring theories.
Minimal unitary representation of $SO(d,2)$ and its deformations describe all the conformally massless fields in $d$ dimensional Minkowskian spacetimes. In critical dimensions these spacetimes admit extensions with twistorial coordinates plus a dilatonic coordinate to causal spacetimes coordinatized by Jordan algebras $J_3^{A}$ of degree three over the four division algebras $A= R , C , H , O $. We study the minimal unitary representation (minrep) of the conformal group $E_{7(-25)}$ of the spacetime coordinatized by the exceptional Jordan algebra $J_3^{O}$. We show that the minrep of $E_{7(-25)}$ decomposes into infinitely many massless representations of the conformal group $SO(10,2)$. Corresponding conformal fields transform as symmetric tensors in spinor indices of $SO(9,1)$ subject to certain constraints. Even and odd tensorial fields describe bosonic and fermionic conformal fields, respectively. Each irrep of $SO(10,2)$ falls into a unitary representation of an $SU(1,1)$ subgroup that commutes with $SO(10,2)$. The noncompact generators in spinor representation $16 $ of $SO(10)$ interpolate between the bosonic and fermionic representations and hence act like "bosonic supersymmetry" generators. We also give the decomposition of the minrep of $E_{7(-25)}$ with respect to the subgroup $SO^*(12)\times SU(2)$ with $SO^*(12) $ acting as the conformal group of the spacetime coordinatized by $J_3^{H}$. Group $E_{7(-25)}$ is also the U-duality group of the exceptional $N=2$ Maxwell-Einstein supergravity in four dimensions. We discuss the relevance of our results to the composite scenario that was proposed for the exceptional supergravity so as to accommodate the families of quarks and leptons of the standard model as well as to the proposal that $E_{7(-25)}$ acts as spectrum generating symmetry group of the $5d$ exceptional supergravity
Scattering amplitudes in Yang-Mills-Einstein theories have been investigated mostly for compact gauge groups. While non-compact gauge groups are not physically viable in Yang-Mills theory, non-compact gaugings feature prominently in the supergravity literature, where any choice of perturbative vacuum spontaneously breaks the gauge group to a compact subgroup. In this paper, we formulate double-copy constructions for several five-dimensional N=2 supergravities with non-compact gauge groups. On one side of the double copy, we employ amplitudes from a super-Yang-Mills theory with a massive hypermultiplet. On the other, we use amplitudes from particular non-supersymmetric Yang-Mills-scalar theories with massive fermions, chosen to obey constraints coming from color/kinematics duality. Supergravities with massive self-dual tensors in five dimensions are also considered, showing that tensors are straightforwardly realized as double copies of gauge-theory fermions with suitable choices of signs in the corresponding solutions of the Dirac equation. We present several examples of these constructions, noting in particular the appearance of Heisenberg groups in the supergravity gauge symmetry and, in some cases, the possibility of exotic tensor-vector matter couplings.
We study the quantum degeneracies of BPS black holes of octonionic magical supergravity in five dimensions that is defined by the exceptional Jordan algebra. We define the quantum degeneracy purely number theoretically as the number of distinct states in the charge space with a given set of invariant labels of the discrete U-duality group. We argue that the quantum degeneracies of spherically symmetric stationary BPS black holes of octonionic magical supergravity in five dimensions are given by the Fourier coefficients of the modular forms of the exceptional group $E_{7(-25)}$. The charges of the black holes take values in the lattice defined by the exceptional Jordan algebra $J_3^{\mathbb{O}}(\mathcal{R})$ over integral octonions $\mathcal{R}$. The quantum degeneracies of charge states of rank one and rank two BPS black holes (zero area) are given by the Fourier coefficients of singular modular forms $E_4(Z)$ and $E_8(Z)=(E_4(Z))^2$ of $E_{7(-25)}(Z)$. The rank 3 (large) BPS black holes will be studied elsewhere. Following the work of N. Elkies and B. Gross on the embeddings of cubic rings $A$ into the exceptional Jordan algebra and their actions on the 24 dimensional orthogonal quadratic subspace of $J_3^{\mathbb{O}}(\mathcal{R})$, we show that the quantum degeneracies of rank one black holes described by such embeddings are given by the Fourier coefficients of the Hilbert modular forms of $SL(2,A)$. If the discriminant of the cubic ring $A$ is $D=p^2$ with $p$ a prime number then the isotropic lines in the 24 dimensional quadratic space define a pair of Niemeier lattices which can be taken as charge lattices of some BPS black holes. For $p=7$ they are the Leech lattice with no roots and the lattice $A_6^4$ with 168 root vectors. We also review the current status of the searches for the M/superstring theoretic origins of the octonionic magical supergravity.
Five-dimensional gauge and gravity theories are known to exhibit striking properties. D=5 is the lowest dimension where massive tensor states appear naturally, providing a testing ground for perturbative insights into six-dimensional tensor theories. Five-dimensional supergravities are highly constrained and admit elegant geometric and algebraic formulations, with global symmetries manifest at the Lagrangian level. In this paper, we take a step towards the systematic investigation of amplitudes in five dimensions, and present a five-dimensional version of the spinor-helicity formalism, applicable to massless, massive and supersymmetric states. We give explicit representations for on-shell spinor and polarization variables such that the little-group symmetry and gauge redundancy are manifest. Massive self-dual tensor states are discussed in some detail, as well as all the on-shell supermultiplets that can appear in matter-coupled gauge and supergravity theories. As a byproduct of considering supersymmetry in the presence of central charge, we obtain massless ten-dimensional Majorana-Weyl spinors as products of five-dimensional massive spinors. We present compact expressions for superamplitudes at multiplicity three and four, including several novel superamplitudes that either do not straightforwardly uplift to six dimensions, or have not appeared in the six-dimensional literature. We discuss several examples of five-dimensional double-copy constructions in the context of gravitational theories with massive vectors and tensors, illustrating that the formalism we construct can also be used to considerably streamline the double-copy construction of N=2 Maxwell-Einstein supergravities.
We study M-theory compactified on twisted 7-tori with $G_2$-holonomy. The effective 4d supergravity has 7 chiral multiplets, each with a unit logarithmic Kähler potential. We propose octonion, Fano plane based superpotentials, codifying the error correcting Hamming (7,4) code. The corresponding 7-moduli models have Minkowski vacua with one flat direction. We also propose superpotentials based on octonions/error correcting codes for Minkowski vacua models with two flat directions. We update phenomenological $α$-attractor models of inflation with $3α=7,6,5,4,3,1$, based on inflation along these flat directions. These inflationary models reproduce the benchmark targets for detecting B-modes, predicting 7 different values of $r = 12α/N_{e}^{2}$ in the range $10^{-2}\gtrsim r \gtrsim 10^{-3}$, to be explored by future cosmological observations.
The ultrashort unitary (4,0) supermultiplet of 6d superconformal algebra OSp(8*|8) reduces to the CPT-self conjugate supermultiplet of 4d superconformal algebra SU(2,2|8) that represents the fields of maximal N=8 supergravity. The graviton in the (4,0) multiplet is described by a mixed tensor gauge field which can not be identified with the standard metric in 6d. Furthermore the (4,0) supermultiplet can be obtained as a double copy of (2,0) conformal supermultiplet whose interacting theories are non-Lagrangian. It had been suggested that an interacting non-metric (4,0) supergravity theory might describe the strongly coupled phase of 5d maximal supergravity. In this paper we study the implications of the existence of an interacting non-metric (4,0) supergravity in 6d. The (4,0) theory can be truncated to non-metric (1,0) supergravity coupled to 5,8 and 14 self-dual tensor multiplets that reduce to three of the unified magical supergravity theories in d=5. This implies that the three infinite families of unified N=2 , 5d Maxwell-Einstein supergravity theories (MESGTs) plus two sporadic ones must have uplifts to unified non-metric (1,0) tensor Einstein supergravity theories in d=6. These theories have non-compact global symmetry groups under which all the self-dual tensor fields including the gravitensor transform irreducibly. Four of these theories are uplifts of the magical supergravity theories whose scalar manifolds are symmetric spaces. The scalar manifolds of the other unified theories are not homogeneous spaces. We also discuss the exceptional field theoretic formulations of non-metric unified $(1,0)$ tensor-Einstein supergravity theories and conclude with speculations concerning the existence of higher dimensional non-metric supergravity theories that reduce to the $(4,0)$ theory in $d=6$.
Attractor black holes in type II string compactifications on $K3 \times T^2$ are in correspondence with equivalence classes of binary quadratic forms. The discriminant of the quadratic form governs the black hole entropy, and the count of attractor black holes at a given entropy is given by a class number. Here, we show this tantalizing relationship between attractors and arithmetic can be generalized to a rich family, connecting black holes in supergravity and string models with analogous equivalence classes of more general forms under the action of arithmetic groups. Many of the physical theories involved have played an earlier role in the study of "magical" supergravities, while their mathematical counterparts are directly related to geometry-of-numbers examples in the work of Bhargava et. al. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Peter Freund. The last section is devoted to some of M.G's personal reminiscences of Peter Freund.
Candidate counterterms break E7 type U-duality symmetry of $N \geq 5$ supergravity theories in four dimensions \cite{Kallosh:2011dp}. A proposal was made in \cite{Bossard:2011ij} to restore it, starting with a double set of vector fields and argued that a supersymmetric extension of their proposal should exist. We show that the extra vectors, needed for the deformation, can not be auxiliary fields in an eventual off-shell formulation $N \geq 5$ supergravity, assuming that such a formulation exists. Furthermore we show that these extra vector fields can not be dynamical either since that changes the unitary supermultiplets underlying these theories and requires one to go beyond the standard framework of extended simple supergravities. To show this we list all relevant unitary conformal supermultiplets of $SU(2,2|N+n)$. We find that doubling of vectors consistent with linearized supersymmetry requires to change the number of scalars, violating the coset structure of the theory, and also to add a finite number of higher spin fields, which do not admit consistent couplings to theories with spins $\leq 2$. Thus, the proposed duality restoring deformation along the lines of \cite{Bossard:2011ij} can not be implemented within the standard framework of extended supergravity theories. We argue therefore that, in the absence of anomalies, E7 type duality together with supersymmetry, might protect $N \geq 5$ supergravity from UV divergences, in particular, $N=5$ supergravity at 4 loops in d=4.
Scattering amplitudes have the potential to provide new insights to the study of supergravity theories with gauged R-symmetry and Minkowski vacua. Such gaugings break supersymmetry spontaneously, either partly or completely. In this paper, we develop a framework for double-copy constructions of Abelian and non-Abelian gaugings of N=8 supergravity with these properties. They are generally obtained as the double copy of a spontaneously-broken (possibly supersymmeric) gauge theory and a theory with explicitly-broken supersymmetry. We first identify purely-adjoint deformations of N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory that preserve the duality between color and kinematics. A combination of Higgsing and orbifolding yields the needed duality-satisfying gauge-theory factors with multiple matter representations. We present three explicit examples. Two are Cremmer-Scherk-Schwarz gaugings with unbroken N=6,4 supersymmetry and U(1) gauge group. The third has unbroken N=4 supersymmetry and SU(2)xU(1) gauge group. We also discuss examples in which the double-copy method gives theories with explicitly-broken supersymmetry.
Supergravities with gauged R-symmetry and Minkowski vacua allow for spontaneous supersymmetry breaking and, as such, provide a framework for building supergravity models of phenomenological relevance. In this letter we initiate the study of double-copy constructions for these supergravities. We argue that, on general grounds, we expect their scattering amplitudes to be described by a double copy of the type: (Higgsed gauge theory) x (gauge theory with broken SUSY). We present a simple realization in which the resulting supergravity has U(1)_R gauge symmetry, spontaneously-broken N=2 supersymmetry, and massive gravitini. This is the first instance of a double-copy construction of a gauged supergravity and of a theory with spontaneously-broken supersymmetry. The construction extends in a straightforward manner to a large family of gauged Yang-Mills-Einstein supergravity theories with or without spontaneous gauge-symmetry breaking.
We study the higher-spin gauge theory in six-dimensional anti-de Sitter space $AdS_6$ that is based on the exceptional Lie superalgebra $F(4)$. The relevant higher-spin algebra was constructed in arXiv:1409.2185 [hep-th]. We determine the spectrum of the theory and show that it contains the physical fields of the Romans $F(4)$ gauged supergravity. The full spectrum consists of an infinite tower of unitary supermultiplets of $F(4)$ which extend the Romans multiplet to higher spins plus a single short supermultiplet. Motivated by applications to this novel supersymmetric higher-spin theory as well as to other theories, we extend the known one-loop tests of $AdS/CFT$ duality in various directions. The spectral zeta-function is derived for the most general case of fermionic and mixed-symmetry fields, which allows one to test the Type-A and B theories and supersymmetric extensions thereof in any dimension. We also study higher-spin doubletons and partially-massless fields. While most of the tests are successfully passed, the Type-B theory in all even dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetimes presents an interesting puzzle: the free energy as computed from the bulk is not equal to that of the free fermion on the CFT side, though there is some systematics to the discrepancy.
We show that scattering amplitudes in magical, symmetric or homogeneous N=2 Maxwell-Einstein supergravities can be obtained as double copies of two gauge theories, using the framework of color/kinematics duality. The left-hand-copy is N=2 super-Yang-Mills theory coupled to a hypermultiplet, whereas the right-hand-copy is a non-supersymmetric theory that can be identified as the dimensional reduction of a D-dimensional Yang-Mills theory coupled to P fermions. For generic D and P, the double copy gives homogeneous supergravities. For P=1 and D=7,8,10,14, it gives the magical supergravities. We compute explicit amplitudes, discuss their soft limit and study the UV-behavior at one loop.
Color/kinematics duality and the double-copy construction have proved to be systematic tools for gaining new insight into gravitational theories. Extending our earlier work, in this paper we introduce new double-copy constructions for large classes of spontaneously-broken Yang-Mills-Einstein theories with adjoint Higgs fields. One gauge-theory copy entering the construction is a spontaneously-broken (super-)Yang-Mills theory, while the other copy is a bosonic Yang-Mills-scalar theory with trilinear scalar interactions that display an explicitly-broken global symmetry. We show that the kinematic numerators of these gauge theories can be made to obey color/kinematics duality by exhibiting particular additional Lie-algebraic relations. We discuss in detail explicit examples with N=2 supersymmetry, focusing on Yang-Mills-Einstein supergravity theories belonging to the generic Jordan family in four and five dimensions, and identify the map between the supergravity and double-copy fields and parameters. We also briefly discuss the application of our results to N=4 supergravity theories. The constructions are illustrated by explicit examples of tree-level and one-loop scattering amplitudes.
Using the double-copy construction of Yang-Mills-Einstein theories formulated in our earlier work, we obtain compact presentations for single-trace Yang-Mills-Einstein tree amplitudes with up to five external gravitons and an arbitrary number of gluons. These are written as linear combinations of color-ordered Yang-Mills trees, where the coefficients are given by color/kinematics-satisfying numerators in a Yang-Mills+ϕ^3 theory. The construction outlined in this paper holds in general dimension and extends straightforwardly to supergravity theories. For one, two, and three external gravitons, our expressions give identical or simpler presentations of amplitudes already constructed through string-theory considerations or the scattering equations formalism. Our results are based on color/kinematics duality and gauge invariance, and strongly hint at a recursive structure underlying the single-trace amplitudes with an arbitrary number of gravitons. For the single-graviton case, we give amplitudes to any loop order and obtain, through gauge invariance, new loop-level amplitude relations for Yang-Mills theory.
We propose a non-associative phase space algebra for M-theory backgrounds with locally non-geometric fluxes based on the non-associative algebra of octonions. Our proposal is based on the observation that the non-associative algebra of the non-geometric R-flux background in string theory can be obtained by a proper contraction of the simple Malcev algebra generated by imaginary octonions. Furthermore, by studying a toy model of a four-dimensional locally non-geometric M-theory background which is dual to a twisted torus, we show that the non-geometric background is "missing" a momentum mode. The resulting seven-dimensional phase space can thus be naturally identified with the imaginary octonions. This allows us to interpret the full uncontracted algebra of imaginary octonions as the uplift of the string theory R-flux algebra to M-theory, with the contraction parameter playing the role of the string coupling constant $g_s$.
The quasiconformal method provides us with a unified approach to the construction of minimal unitary representations (minrep) of noncompact groups, their deformations as well as their supersymmetric extensions. We review the quasiconformal construction of the minrep of SO(d,2), its deformations and their applications to unitary realizations of AdS_{(d+1)}/CFT_d higher spin algebras and their deformations for arbitrary d and supersymmetric extensions for dimensions d less than seven. AdS_{(d+1)}/CFT_d higher spin algebras, their deformations and supersymmetric extensions are given by the enveloping algebras of the quasiconformal realizations of the minrep, its deformations and supersymmetric extensions, respectively, and are in one-to-one correspondence with massless conformal fields for arbitrary d and massless conformal supermultiplets for dimensions d less than seven.
We extend our earlier work on the minimal unitary representation of $SO(d,2)$ and its deformations for $d=4,5$ and $6$ to arbitrary dimensions $d$. We show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the minrep of $SO(d,2)$ and its deformations and massless conformal fields in Minkowskian spacetimes in $d$ dimensions. The minrep describes a massless conformal scalar field, and its deformations describe massless conformal fields of higher spin. The generators of Joseph ideal vanish identically as operators for the quasiconformal realization of the minrep, and its enveloping algebra yields directly the standard bosonic $AdS_{(d+1)}/CFT_d$ higher spin algebra. For deformed minreps the generators of certain deformations of Joseph ideal vanish as operators and their enveloping algebras lead to deformations of the standard bosonic higher spin algebra. In odd dimensions there is a unique deformation of the higher spin algebra corresponding to the spinor singleton. In even dimensions one finds infinitely many deformations of the higher spin algebra labelled by the eigenvalues of Casimir operator of the little group $SO(d-2)$ for massless representations.