The classical double copy for half-maximal supergravities and T-duality

We study the classical double copy for ungauged half-maximal supergravities using the Kaluza-Klein reduction of double field theory (DFT). We construct a general formula for the Kaluza-Klein (KK) reduction of the DFT Kerr-Schild ansatz. The KK reduction of the ansatz is highly nonlinear, but the associated equations of motion are linear. This linear structure implies that half-maximal supergravities admit a classical double copy. We show that their single copy is given by a pair of Maxwell-scalar theories, which are the KK reduction of a higher-dimensional single copy of DFT. We also investigate their T-duality transformations — both the Buscher rule and continuous O(D, D) rotations. Applying the Buscher rule to the Kerr BH, we obtain a solution with a nontrivial Kalb-Ramond field and dilaton. We also identify the single copy of Sen’s heterotic BH and the chiral null model and show that the chiral null model is self-dual under T-duality rotations.

Komar integral and Smarr formula for axion-dilaton black holes versus S duality

We construct the Komar integral for axion-dilaton gravity using Wald’s formalism and momentum maps and we use it to derive a Smarr relation for stationary axion-dilaton black holes. While the Wald-Noether 2-form charge is not invariant under SL(2, ℝ) electric-magnetic duality transformations because Wald’s formalism does not account for magnetic charges and potentials, the Komar integral constructed with it turns out to be invariant and, in more general theories, it will be fully symplectic invariant. We check the Smarr formula obtained with the most general family of static axion-dilaton black holes.

Supergravity solution-generating techniques and canonical transformations of σ-models from O(D, D)

Within the framework of the flux formulation of Double Field Theory (DFT) we employ a generalised Scherk-Schwarz ansatz and discuss the classification of the twists that in the presence of the strong constraint give rise to constant generalised fluxes interpreted as gaugings. We analyse the various possibilities of turning on the fluxes Hijk, Fijk, Qijk and Rijk, and the solutions for the twists allowed in each case. While we do not impose the DFT (or equivalently supergravity) equations of motion, our results provide solution-generating techniques in supergravity when applied to a background that does solve the DFT equations. At the same time, our results give rise also to canonical transformations of 2-dimensional σ-models, a fact which is interesting especially because these are integrability-preserving transformations on the worldsheet. Both the solution-generating techniques of supergravity and the canonical transformations of 2-dimensional σ-models arise as maps that leave the generalised fluxes of DFT and their flat derivatives invariant. These maps include the known abelian/non-abelian/Poisson-Lie T-duality transformations, Yang-Baxter deformations, as well as novel generalisations of them.

Surface terms in effective action of O-plane at order $$\alpha '^2$$

The effective action of string theory has both bulk and boundary terms if the spacetime is an open manifold. Recently, the known classical effective action of string theory at the leading order of $$\alpha '$$ α ′ and its corresponding boundary action have been reproduced by constraining the effective actions to be invariant under gauge transformations and under string duality transformations. In this paper, we use this idea to find the classical effective action of the O-plane and its corresponding boundary terms in type II superstring theories at order $$\alpha '^2$$ α ′ 2 and for NS–NS couplings. We find that these constraints fix the bulk action and its corresponding boundary terms up to one overall factor. They also produce three multiplets in the boundary action that their coefficients are independent of the bulk couplings under the string dualities.

Effective action of type II superstring theories at order α′3: NS-NS couplings

Recently, it has been shown that the minimum number of gauge invariant couplings for B-field, metric and dilaton at order α′3 is 872. These couplings, in a particular scheme, appear in 55 different structures. In this paper, up to an overall factor, we fix all parameters in type II supertirng theories by requiring the reduction of the couplings on a circle to be invariant under T-duality transformations. We find that there are 445 non-zero couplings which appear in 15 different structures. The couplings are fully consistent with the partial couplings that have been found in the literature by the four-point S-matrix element and by the non-linear Sigma model methods.

T-duality in nonrelativistic open string theory

Nonrelativistic open string theory is defined by a worldsheet theory that produces a Galilean invariant string spectrum and is described at low energies by a nonrelativistic Yang-Mills theory [1]. We study T-duality transformations in the path integral for the sigma model that describes nonrelativistic open string theory coupled to an arbitrary closed string background, described by a string Newton-Cartan geometry, Kalb-Ramond, and dilaton field. We prove that T-duality transformations map nonrelativistic open string theory to relativistic and noncommutative open string theory in the discrete light cone quantization (DLCQ), a quantization scheme relevant for Matrix string theory. We also show how the worldvolume dynamics of nonrelativistic open string theory described by the Dirac-Born-Infeld type action found in [1] maps to the Dirac-Born-Infeld actions describing the worldvolume theories of the DLCQ of open string theory and noncommutative open string theory.

T duality and Wald entropy formula in the Heterotic Superstring effective action at first-order in α′

We consider the compactification on a circle of the Heterotic Superstring effective action to first order in the Regge slope parameter α′ and re-derive the α′-corrected Buscher rules first found in ref. [42], proving the T duality invariance of the dimensionally-reduced action to that order in α′. We use Iyer and Wald’s prescription to derive an entropy formula that can be applied to black-hole solutions which can be obtained by a single non-trivial compactification on a circle and discuss its invariance under the α′-corrected T duality transformations. This formula has been successfully applied to α′-corrected 4-dimensional non-extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes in ref. [21] and we apply it here to a heterotic version of the Strominger-Vafa 5-dimensional extremal black hole.

Spectra of elliptic potentials and supersymmetric gauge theories

We study a relation between asymptotic spectra of the quantum mechanics problem with a four components elliptic function potential, the Darboux-Treibich-Verdier (DTV) potential, and the Omega background deformed N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) QCD models with four massive flavors in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit. The weak coupling spectral solution of the DTV potential is related to the instanton partition function of supersymmetric QCD with surface operator. There are two strong coupling spectral solutions of the DTV potential, they are related to the strong coupling expansions of gauge theory prepotential at the magnetic and dyonic points in the moduli space. A set of duality transformations relate the two strong coupling expansions for spectral solution, and for gauge theory prepotential.