3 research outputs found
On the maximal superalgebras of supersymmetric backgrounds
In this note we give a precise definition of the notion of a maximal
superalgebra of certain types of supersymmetric supergravity backgrounds,
including the Freund-Rubin backgrounds, and propose a geometric construction
extending the well-known construction of its Killing superalgebra. We determine
the structure of maximal Lie superalgebras and show that there is a finite
number of isomorphism classes, all related via contractions from an
orthosymplectic Lie superalgebra. We use the structure theory to show that
maximally supersymmetric waves do not possess such a maximal superalgebra, but
that the maximally supersymmetric Freund-Rubin backgrounds do. We perform the
explicit geometric construction of the maximal superalgebra of AdS_4 x S^7 and
find that is isomorphic to osp(1|32). We propose an algebraic construction of
the maximal superalgebra of any background asymptotic to AdS_4 x S^7 and we
test this proposal by computing the maximal superalgebra of the M2-brane in its
two maximally supersymmetric limits, finding agreement.Comment: 17 page
Lectures on Nongeometric Flux Compactifications
These notes present a pedagogical review of nongeometric flux
compactifications. We begin by reviewing well-known geometric flux
compactifications in Type II string theory, and argue that one must include
nongeometric "fluxes" in order to have a superpotential which is invariant
under T-duality. Additionally, we discuss some elementary aspects of the
worldsheet description of nongeometric backgrounds. This review is based on
lectures given at the 2007 RTN Winter School at CERN.Comment: 31 pages, JHEP