Related papers: Extending dualities to trialities deepens the foun…
In a background independent theory without boundary, physical observables may be defined with respect to dynamical reference systems. However, I argue here that there may be a symmetry that exchanges the degrees of freedom of the physical…
In string theory it is known that abelian isometries in the sigma model lead to target space duality. We generalize this duality to backgrounds with non--abelian isometries. The procedure we follow consists of gauging the isometries of the…
We argue that the finiteness of quantum gravity amplitudes in fully compactified theories (at least in supersymmetric cases) leads to a bottom-up prediction for the existence of non-trivial dualities. In particular, finiteness requires the…
The doubled formulation of string theory, which is T-duality covariant and enlarges spacetime with extra coordinates conjugate to winding number, is reformulated and its geometric and topological features examined. It is used to formulate…
We show how classical and quantum dualities, as well as duality relations that appear only in a sector of certain theories ("emergent dualities"), can be unveiled, and systematically established. Our method relies on the use of morphisms of…
The cosmological compactification of D=10, N=1 supergravity-super-Yang-Mills theory obtained from superstring theory is studied. The constraint of unbroken N=1 supersymmetry is imposed. A duality transformation is performed on the resulting…
This thesis discusses various aspects of duality in quantum field theory and string theory. In the first part we consider duality in topological quantum field theories, concentrating on the Donaldson and Seiberg-Witten theories as (dual)…
We reconsider some older constructions of T-duality, based on automorphisms of the worldsheet operator algebra, in a modern context. It has been long known that at special points in the moduli space of torus compactifications, the target…
It is well known that string theory has a T-duality symmetry relating circle compactifications of large and small radius. This symmetry plays a foundational role in string theory. We note here that while T-duality is order two acting on the…
Fundamental duality is a concept which refers to two irreducible, heterogeneous principles which are in opposite and complementary of each other. The complementary principle in quantum mechanics is also praised by Bohr. This important…
Dualities offer new possibilities for relating fundamentality and emergence. In particular, as is the aim of this chapter to show, it may happen that the relations of fundamentality and emergence between dual theories are inverted. In other…
We study the interplay between T-duality, compactification and supersymmetry. We prove that when the original configuration has unbroken space-time supersymmetries, the dual configuration also does if a special condition is met: the Killing…
Using M(atrix) Theory, the dualities of toroidally compactified M-theory can be formulated as properties of super Yang Mills theories in various dimensions. We consider the cases of compactification on one, two, three, four and five…
The matrix model formulation of M theory can be generalized to compact transverse backgrounds such as tori. If the number of compact directions is K then the matrix model must be generalized to K+1 dimensional super Yang Mills theory on a…
Microscopic symmetries impose strong constraints on the elasticity of a crystalline solid. In addition to the usual spatial symmetries captured by the tensorial character of the elastic tensor, hidden non-spatial symmetries can occur…
Multidimensionality of our Universe is one of the most intriguing assumption in modern physics. It follows naturally from theories unifying different fundamental interactions with gravity, e.g. M/string theory. The idea has received a great…
Three subjects are considered here: a self-dual non-critical string that appears in Type IIB superstring theory at points in ${\rm K3}$ moduli space where the Type IIA theory has extended gauge symmetry; a conformal field theory singularity…
Canonical duality-triality is a breakthrough methodological theory, which can be used not only for modeling complex systems within a unified framework, but also for solving a wide class of challenging problems from real-world applications.…
Duality symmetries in M--theory and string theory are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the way in which string winding modes and brane wrapping modes can lead to new spatial dimensions. Brane world-volumes wrapping around Lorentzian…
We introduce a formalism based on a combinatorial notion of cell complex subject to an inclusion-reversing duality operation. Our main goal is to open the way for a functorial definition of field theories in a context where no manifold or…