Are There Any New Vacua of Gauged N=8 Supergravity in Four Dimensions?

TL;DR

This paper explores the scalar potential landscape of gauged N=8 supergravity in four dimensions, identifying new vacua and analyzing supersymmetric solutions, including domain walls and dual field theories.

Contribution

It introduces a new scalar potential framework using six real four-forms and uncovers previously unknown vacua in gauged N=8 supergravity.

Findings

Reproduces known results for extreme limits from 1983

Identifies the G_2 critical point with a specific constraint surface

Constructs BPS domain-wall solutions and relates them to dual superconformal theories

Abstract

We consider the most general SU(3) singlet space of gauged N=8 supergravity in four-dimensions. The SU(3)-invariant six scalar fields in the theory can be viewed in terms of six real four-forms. By exponentiating these four-forms, we eventually obtain the new scalar potential. For the two extreme limits, we reproduce the previous results found by Warner in 1983. In particular, for the N=1 G_2 critical point, we find the constraint surface parametrized by three scalar fields on which the cosmological constant has the same value. We obtain the BPS domain-wall solutions for restricted scalar submanifold. We also describe the three-dimensional mass-deformed superconformal Chern-Simons matter theory dual to the above supersymmetric flows in four-dimensions.