Supergravity - N = 8 Supergravity in 4 Dimensions

N = 8 Supergravity in 4 Dimensions

N=8 Supergravity is the most symmetric quantum field theory which involves gravity and a finite number of fields. It can be found from a dimensional reduction of 11D supergravity by making the size of 7 of the dimensions go to zero. It has 8 supersymetries which is the most any gravitational theory can have since there are 8 half-steps between spin 2 and spin -2. (A graviton has the highest spin in this theory which is a spin 2 particle). More supersymmetries would mean the particles would have superpartners with spins higher than 2. The only theories with spins higher than 2 which are consistent involve an infinite number of particles (such as String Theory). Stephen Hawking in his A Brief History of Time speculated that this theory could be the Theory of Everything. However in later years this was abandoned in favour of String Theory. There has been renewed interest in the 21st century with the possibility that this theory may be finite.