Domain walls of gauged supergravity, M-branes, and algebraic curves

TL;DR

This paper classifies all supersymmetric domain wall solutions in maximal gauged supergravity in four and seven dimensions, linking them to M-branes and algebraic curves, and analyzes their fluctuations using algebraic and quantum mechanics techniques.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive algebraic classification of supersymmetric domain walls in 4D and 7D gauged supergravity, including explicit solutions and fluctuation analysis.

Findings

Complete classification of domain walls in 7D supergravity.

Explicit solutions for scalar and graviton fluctuations.

Connection between algebraic curves and supergravity solutions.

Abstract

We provide an algebraic classification of all supersymmetric domain wall solutions of maximal gauged supergravity in four and seven dimensions, in the presence of non-trivial scalar fields in the coset SL(8,R)/SO(8) and SL(5,R)/SO(5) respectively. These solutions satisfy first-order equations, which can be obtained using the method of Bogomol'nyi. From an eleven-dimensional point of view they correspond to various continuous distributions of M2- and M5-branes. The Christoffel-Schwarz transformation and the uniformization of the associated algebraic curves are used in order to determine the Schrodinger potential for the scalar and graviton fluctuations on the corresponding backgrounds. In many cases we explicitly solve the Schrodinger problem by employing techniques of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The analysis is parallel to the construction of domain walls of five-dimensional gauged supergravity, with scalar fields in the coset SL(6,R)/SO(6), using algebraic curves or continuous distributions of D3-branes in ten dimensions. In seven dimensions, in particular, our classification of domain walls is complete for the full scalar sector of gauged supergravity. We also discuss some general aspects of D-dimensional gravity coupled to scalar fields in the coset SL(N,R)/SO(N).