Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-55/1/a/solution

For null four-momentum, has rank one in its spinor indices. Positivity makes the null combinations act trivially; the remaining normalized pairs obey . Acting with distinct lowering operators on a highest-helicity state gives the helicity spectrum of a massless supermultiplet:
A CPT completion of a supermultiplet adds the opposite helicities if needed. Interpreting the physical spin bounds as , the width fits inside only if . A literal one-sided bound on helicity without CPT would not give this maximum. The maximal spectra are
and
Thus the maxima are (N=4) for spin at most one and (N=8) for spin at most two, with 16 and 256 states. Dimensional reduction of ten-dimensional super Yang-Mills theory on a six-torus gives the first: the vector yields one four-dimensional vector and six real scalar fields, and its Majorana-Weyl spinor yields four Weyl spinors. Reducing eleven-dimensional supergravity on a seven-torus gives the second: metric components supply one graviton, seven vectors and 28 scalars; the three-form supplies 21 vectors, 35 scalars and seven dualized two-form scalars; the gravitino supplies eight gravitini and 56 spin-half fields. These total 28 vectors and 70 scalars, with 128 boson and 128 fermion states.

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