Exceptional field theories, superparticles in an enlarged 11D superspace and higher spin theories

TL;DR

This paper explores the structure of exceptional field theories in extended superspaces, proposing an 11D EFT in tensorial superspace, and links superparticle models to higher spin fields in M-theory.

Contribution

It conjectures an 11D exceptional field theory in tensorial superspace underlying all known EFTs and proposes superparticle models to generate solutions, connecting to higher spin theories.

Findings

Conjecture of 11D EFT in tensorial superspace.

Superparticle models generate solutions with various supersymmetries.

Quantum states potentially describe higher spin fields in 11D.

Abstract

Recently proposed exceptional field theories (EFTs) making manifest the duality $E_{n(n)}$ symmetry, first observed as nonlinearly realized symmetries of the maximal $d=3,4,...,9$ supergravity ($n=11-d$) and containing 11D and type IIB supergravity as sectors, were formulated in enlarged spacetimes. In the case of $E_{7(7)}$ EFT such an enlarged spacetime can be identified with the bosonic body of the $d=4$ central charge superspace $\Sigma^{(60|32)}$, the ${\cal N}=8$ $d=4$ superspace completed by 56 additional bosonic coordinates associated to central charges of the maximal $d=4$ supersymmetry algebra. In this paper we show how the hypothesis on the relation of all the known $E_{n(n)}$ EFTs, including $n=8$, with supersymmetry leads to the conjecture on existence of 11D exceptional field theory living in 11D tensorial central charge superspace $\Sigma^{(528|32)}$ and underlying all the $E_{n(n)}$ EFTs with $n=2,...,8$, and probably the double field theory (DFT). We conjecture the possible form of the section conditions of such an 11D EFT and show that quite generic solutions of these can be generated by superparticle models the ground states of which preserve from one half to all but one supersymmetry. The properties of these superparticle models are briefly discussed. We argue that, upon quantization, their quantum states should describe free massless non-conformal higher spin fields in D=11. We also discuss some relevant representations of the M-theory superalgebra which, in the present context, describes supersymmetry of the 11D EFT.