English

No Cosmological D=11 Supergravity

High Energy Physics - Theory 2016-09-06 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

We show, in two complementary ways, that D=11 supergravity---in contrast to all its lower dimensional versions---forbids a cosmological extension. First, we linearize the putative model about an Anti de Sitter background and show that it cannot even support a "global" supersymmetry invariance; hence there is no Noether construction that can lead to a local supersymmetry. This is true with the usual 4-form field as well as for a "dual", 7-form, starting point. Second, a cohomology argument, starting from the original full nonlinear theory, establishes the absence of deformations involving spin 3/2 mass and cosmological terms. In both approaches, it is the form field that is responsible for the obstruction. ``Dualizing'' the cosmological constant to an 11-form field also fails.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-th/9704131,
  title  = {No Cosmological D=11 Supergravity},
  author = {K. Bautier and S. Deser and M. Henneaux and D. Seminara},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/9704131},
  year   = {2016}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-22T16:04:40.229Z