Supergravity and M-theory

Supergravity provides the effective field theories for string compactifications. The deformation of the maximal supergravities by non-abelian gauge interactions is only possible for a restricted class of charges. Generically these ‘gaugings’ involve a hierarchy of p-form fields which belong to specific representations of the duality group. The group-theoretical structure of this p-form hierarchy exhibits many interesting features. In the case of maximal supergravity the class of allowed deformations has intriguing connections with M/string theory. This study is based on a talk presented at Quantum gravity: challenges and perspectives, Heraeus Seminar, Bad Honnef, 14–16 April 2008.