English

BPS states in M-theory and twistorial constituents

High Energy Physics - Theory 2008-11-26 v2

Abstract

We provide a complete algebraic description of BPS states in M-theory in terms of primary constituents that we call BPS preons. We argue that any BPS state preserving kk of the 32 supersymmetries is a composite of (32-k) BPS preons. In particular, the BPS states corresponding to the basic M2 and M5 branes are composed of 16 BPS preons. By extending the M-algebra to a generalized D=11 conformal superalgebra osp(164)osp(1|64) we relate the BPS preons with its fundamental representation, the D=11 supertwistors.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-th/0101113,
  title  = {BPS states in M-theory and twistorial constituents},
  author = {Igor A. Bandos and Jose A. de Azcarraga and Jose M. Izquierdo and Jerzy Lukierski},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/0101113},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

4 pages. Refs. updated, two cosmetic changes, to appear in PRL