Deformed N = 8 supergravity from IIA strings and its Chern-Simons duals

Do electric/magnetic deformations of N = 8 supergravity enjoy a string/M-theory origin, or are they just a fourdimensional artefact? We address this question for the gauging of a group closely related to SO(8): its contraction ISO(7). We argue that the deformed ISO(7) supergravity arises from consistent truncation of massive IIA supergravity on S⁶, and its electric/magnetic deformation parameter descends directly from the Romans mass. The critical points of the supergravity uplift to AdS₄ massive type IIA vacua and the corresponding CFT₃ duals are identified as super-Chern-Simons-matter theories with gauge group SU(N) and level k given also by the Romans mass. (copyright 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)