Elliptic Cohomology: The M -theory 3-form and E 8 gauge theory

We give a precise formulation of the M -theory 3-form potential C in a fashion applicable to topologically nontrivial situations. In our model the 3-form is related to the ChernSimons form of an E8 gauge field. This leads to a precise version of the Chern-Simons interaction of 11-dimensional supergravity on manifolds with and without boundary. As an application of the formalism we give a formula for the electric C-field charge, as an integral cohomology class, induced by self-interactions of the 3-form and by gravity. As further applications, we identify the M theory Chern-Simons term as a cubic refinement of a trilinear form, we clarify the physical nature of Witten’s global anomaly for 5-brane partition functions, we clarify the relation of M -theory flux quantization to K-theoretic quantization of RR charge, and we indicate how the formalism can be applied to heterotic M -theory.

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