  Dimensional reductions of pure Einstein gravity on cosets other than tori are
inconsistent. The inclusion of specific additional scalar and p-form matter can
change the situation. For example, a D-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton
system, with a specific dilaton coupling, is known to admit a consistent
reduction on S^2= SU(2)/U(1), of a sort first envisaged by Pauli. We provide a
new understanding, by showing how an S^3=SU(2) group-manifold reduction of
(D+1)-dimensional Einstein gravity, of a type first indicated by DeWitt, can be
broken into in two steps; a Kaluza-type reduction on U(1) followed by a
Pauli-type coset reduction on S^2. More generally, we show that any
D-dimensional theory that itself arises as a Kaluza U(1) reduction from (D+1)
dimensions admits a consistent Pauli reduction on any coset of the form G/U(1).
Extensions to the case G/H are given. Pauli coset reductions of the bosonic
string on G= (G\times G)/G are believed to be consistent, and a consistency
proof exists for S^3=SO(4)/SO(3). We examine these reductions, and arguments
for consistency, in detail. The structures of the theories obtained instead by
DeWitt-type group-manifold reductions of the bosonic string are also studied,
allowing us to make contact with previous such work in which only singlet
scalars are retained. Consistent truncations with two singlet scalars are
possible. Intriguingly, despite the fact that these are not supersymmetric
models, if the group manifold has dimension 3 or 25 they admit a superpotential
formulation, and hence first-order equations yielding domain-wall solutions.

High Energy Physics - Theory