Rational sphere valued supercocycles in M-theory and type IIA string theory

Abstract

We show that supercocycles on super $L_\infty$-algebras capture, at the rational level, the twisted cohomological charge structure of the fields of M-theory and of type IIA string theory. We show that rational 4-sphere-valued supercocycles for M-branes in M-theory descend to supercocycles in type IIA string theory with coefficients in the free loop space of the 4-sphere, to yield the Ramond-Ramond fields in the rational image of twisted K-theory, with the twist given by the B-field. In particular, we derive the M2/M5 $\leftrightarrow$ F1/Dp/NS5 correspondence via dimensional reduction of sphere-valued super-$L_\infty$-cocycles.