2008/06/30 by Ofer Aharony, Oren Bergman, Daniel Louis Jafferis +1 · 7 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2008/10/091
published as JHEP 0810:091,2008 · 41 pages, 4 figures. v3: minor corrections, added references. v4: added reference, minor changes, JHEP version
arxiv created 2008/10/23 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We construct three dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories with gauge groups U(N)xU(N) and SU(N)xSU(N) which have explicit N=6 superconformal symmetry. Using brane constructions we argue that the U(N)xU(N) theory at level k describes the low energy limit of N M2-branes probing a C4/Zk singularity. At large N the theory is then dual to M theory on AdS4xS7/Zk. The theory also has a 't Hooft limit (of large N with a fixed ratio N/k) which is dual to type IIA string theory on AdS4xCP3. For k=1 the theory is conjectured to describe N M2-branes in flat space, although our construction realizes explicitly only six of the eight supersymmetries. We give some evidence for this conjecture, which is similar to the evidence for mirror symmetry in d=3 gauge theories. When the gauge group is SU(2)xSU(2) our theory has extra symmetries and becomes identical to the Bagger-Lambert theory.