OP2 bundles in M-theory

Abstract

Ramond has observed that the massless multiplet of eleven-dimensional supergravity can be generated from the decomposition of certain representation of the exceptional Lie group F4 into those of its maximal compact subgroup Spin(9). The possibility of a topological origin for this observation is investigated by studying Cayley plane, OP2, bundles over eleven-manifolds Y. The lift of the topological terms gives constraints on the cohomology of Y which are derived. Topological structures and genera on Y are related to the corresponding ones on the total space M. The latter, being 27-dimensional, might provide a candidate for `bosonic M-theory'. The discussion leads to a connection with an octonionic version of Kreck-Stolz elliptic homology theory.