Abstract (Elsevier)
We give a detailed construction of gauged N = 8 supergravity theories in five dimensions with Yang-Mills gauge groups SO( p , 6− p )( p =0, 1, 2, 3), physical global symmetry SU(1, 1), and local composite symmetry USp(8). The scalar potentials are studied and several critical points are found for the SO(6) and SO(3,3) theories. Those of the SO(6) theory are related to compactifications of the chiral N = 2 theory in ten dimensions. We discuss truncations of the SO(6) theory and give an independent discussion of the relevant N = 2,4,6 and 8 anti-de Sitter supermultiplets.