Higher Superspace Supergravity and its IR-Completions

Abstract

It is an old idea that higher-dimensional super-gravity (SuGra) is put on-shell just by imposing Bianchi identities on super-field strengths over super-spacetimes subject to super-torsion constraints. We give a modernized, rigorous account and review recent developments, pointing out how this perspective lends itself to the construction of infrared completions of SuGra by electromagnetic flux quantization in differential nonabelian cohomology theories $\mathcal{A}_{\mathrm{dff}}$ lifting the coefficient $L_\infty$-algebra $\mathfrak{l}\mathcal{A}$ of the super-Bianchi identities. After surveying necessary background, we highlight: (1.) our recent proof that solutions of 11D SuGra are equivalent to the $\mathfrak{l}S^4$-Bianchi identities on super $C$-field flux over super-torsion-free 11D super-spacetimes, (2.) how from this the nonlinearly self-dual gauge sector on 6D M5-brane worldvolumes is equivalent to the $\mathfrak{l}_{S^4}S^7$-Bianchi identity on super $B$-field flux, (3.) and the recent complete discussion of superspace dimensional reduction of this situation to 10D IIA SuGra via $\mathfrak{l}\mathrm{Cyc}(S^4)$-Bianchi identities on super NS/RR-flux, together with its extension to further reduction to 9 SuGra via $\mathfrak{l}\mathrm{Tor}(S^4)$-Bianchis on the corresponding super-fluxes. We close by indicating how this implies consistent infrared completions of 11D SuGra by $C$-field flux quantization in 4-Cohomotopy, of 10D IIA SuGra by NS/RR-field flux-quantization in a form of twisted unstable K-theory, and of M5-brane worldvolumes by $B$-field flux-quantization in twisted (twistorial) relative Cohomotopy. The latter admits geometric engineering of experimentally relevant topological quantum orders.