BPS states in M-theory and twistorial constituents

TL;DR

This paper introduces BPS preons as fundamental constituents of BPS states in M-theory, establishing an algebraic framework that relates these states to supertwistors and extends the M-algebra to a conformal superalgebra.

Contribution

It provides an algebraic description of BPS states in M-theory using BPS preons and connects them to supertwistors through an extended superalgebra.

Findings

BPS states are composites of BPS preons.

M2 and M5 branes are composed of 16 BPS preons.

Extended superalgebra relates BPS preons to supertwistors.

Abstract

We provide a complete algebraic description of BPS states in M-theory in terms of primary constituents that we call BPS preons. We argue that any BPS state preserving $k$ of the 32 supersymmetries is a composite of (32-k) BPS preons. In particular, the BPS states corresponding to the basic M2 and M5 branes are composed of 16 BPS preons. By extending the M-algebra to a generalized D=11 conformal superalgebra $osp(1|64)$ we relate the BPS preons with its fundamental representation, the D=11 supertwistors.