Topologically gauged superconformal Chern-Simons matter theories

TL;DR

This paper develops new topologically gauged superconformal Chern-Simons matter theories in three dimensions, revealing novel scalar potentials, AdS_3 solutions, and gauge group structures, expanding the understanding of superconformal gravity coupled to matter.

Contribution

It introduces a new class of superconformal Chern-Simons matter theories with topological gauging, novel scalar potentials, and flexible gauge groups, extending previous models by Bagger, Lambert, and Gustavsson.

Findings

New theories with AdS_3 solutions and superconformal symmetry breaking.

Inherits or reduces gauge groups based on initial models.

Consistent theories for any SO(N) gauge group.

Abstract

By coupling {\cal N}=8 superconformal matter to {\cal N}=8 superconformal Chern-Simons gravity in three dimensions we obtain theories with novel terms in the scalar potential leading to AdS_3 solutions and superconformal symmetry breaking. If we start from the theory derived by Bagger, Lambert and Gustavsson, our coupled theory either inherits the SO(4) gauge group or reduces it to SO(3). If the construction is instead based on a free matter theory we find that the gravitational topological gauging also requires the introduction of a Chern-Simons gauge sector resulting in a consistent theory for any SO(N) gauge group.