Three-dimensional N=8 conformal supergravity and its coupling to BLG M2-branes

Understand

This paper is concerned with the problem of coupling the N=8 superconformal Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson (BLG) theory to N=8 conformal supergravity in three dimensions.

• We start by constructing the on-shell N=8 conformal supergravity in three dimensions consisting of a Chern-Simons type term for each of the gauge fields: the spin connection, the SO(8) R-symmetry gauge field and the spin 3/2 Rarita-Schwinger (gravitino) field.
• We then proceed to couple this theory to the BLG theory.
• The final theory should have the same physical content, i.e., degrees of freedom, as the ordinary BLG theory.