Consistency of eight-dimensional supergravities: anomalies, lattices and counterterms

Abstract

We reexamine the question of quantum consistency of supergravities in eight dimensions. Theories with 16 supercharges suffer from the anomalies under the action of its discrete modular groups. In minimally supersymmetric theory coupled to Yang-Mills multiples of rank l with the moduli space given by SO(2, l)/(U(1) × SO(l)), the existence of a counterterm together with the requirement that its poles and zeros correspond to the gauge symmetry enhancement imposes nontrivial constraints on the lattice. The counterterms needed for anomaly cancellation for all cases, that are believed to lead to consistent theories of quantum gravity (l = 2, 10, 18), are discussed.