T-duality constraints on higher derivatives revisited

We ask to what extent are the higher-derivative corrections of string theory constrained by T-duality. The seminal early work by Meissner tests T-duality by reduction to one dimension using a distinguished choice of field variables in which the bosonic string action takes a Gauss-Bonnet-type form. B...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hohm, Olaf, Zwiebach, Barton
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103171
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6504-3210
Description
Summary:We ask to what extent are the higher-derivative corrections of string theory constrained by T-duality. The seminal early work by Meissner tests T-duality by reduction to one dimension using a distinguished choice of field variables in which the bosonic string action takes a Gauss-Bonnet-type form. By analyzing all field redefinitions that may or may not be duality covariant and may or may not be gauge covariant we extend the procedure to test T-duality starting from an action expressed in arbitrary field variables. We illustrate the method by showing that it determines uniquely the first-order α′ corrections of the bosonic string, up to terms that vanish in one dimension. We also use the method to glean information about the O[superscript α′2] corrections in the double field theory with Green-Schwarz deformation.