M-theory on spin(7) manifolds

We study M-theory on two classes of manifolds of Spin(7) holonomy that are developing an isolated conical singularity. We construct explicitly a new class of Spin(7) manifolds and analyse in detail the topology of the corresponding classical spacetimes. We discover also an intricate interplay between various anomalies in M-theory, string theory, and gauge theory within these models, and in particular find a connection between half-integral G-fluxes in M-theory and Chern-Simons terms of the N = 1, D = 3 effective theory. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V