The Sirens of Eleven Dimensions

Abstract

While most theorists are tied to the mast of four dimensions, some have found it irresistible to speculate about eleven dimensions, the domain of M-theory. We outline a program which starts from the light-cone description of supergravity, and tracks its divergences to suggest the existence of an infinite component theory which in the light-cone relies on the coset $F_4/SO(9)$, long known to be linked to the Exceptional Jordan Algebra.Comment: Contribution to "From Fields to Strings: Circumnavigating Theoretical Physics", Edited by M. Shifman, A. Vainshtein, and J. Wheater, in memory of Ian Koga