An N-2 supersymmetric membrane flow

We find M-theory solutions that are holographic duals of flows of the maximally supersymmetric (N = 8) scalar-fermion theory in 2 + 1 dimensions. In particular, we construct the M-theory solution dual to a flow in which a single chiral multiplet is given a mass, and the theory goes to a new infrared fixed point. We also examine this new solution using M2-brane probes. The (2 + 1)-dimensional field theory fixed-point is closely related to that of Leigh and Strassler, while the M-theory solution is closely related to the corresponding IIB flow solution. We recast the IIB flow solution in a more geometric manner and use this to obtain an ansatz for the M-theory flow. We are able to generalize our solution further to obtain flows with del Pezzo submanifolds, and we give an explicit solution with a conifold singularity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.