Shadow multiplets and superHiggs mechanism

Abstract

We discuss a general feature of Freund Rubin compactifications that was previously overlooked. It consist in a curious pairing, which we call a shadow relation, of completely different (in terms of spin and mass) fields of the dimensionally reduced theory. Particularly interesting is the case where the compactification preserves a certain amount of supersymmetry, giving rise to a shadowing phenomenon between whole supermultiplets of fields. In particular, there are strong suggestions about the consistency of a massive truncation of 11D supergravity to the massless modes of the graviton supermultiplet plus the massive modes of its shadow partner. This fact has important consequences in the ${\cal N}=2$ and ${\cal N}=3$ cases, which seem to realize respectively a Higgs or a superHiggs phenomenon. In other words, we are led to reinterpret the dimensionally reduced theory as a spontaneously broken phase of some higher (super)symmetric theory.