Related papers: Electric/magnetic duality and its stringy origins
A brief review of the status of duality symmetries in string theory is presented. The evidence is accumulating rapidly that an enormous group of duality symmetries, including perturbative T dualities and non-perturbative S-dualities,…
We present several pieces of evidence for strong-weak coupling duality symmetry in the heterotic string theory, compactified on a six dimensional torus. These include symmetry of the 1) low energy effective action, 2) allowed spectrum of…
We propose an electric-magnetic duality and conjecture an exact conformal window for a class of non-supersymmetric U(N_c) gauge theories with fermions in the (anti)symmetric representation of the gauge group and N_f additional scalar and…
Some recent results on the applications of duality (and related) transformations to general four-dimensional, spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat and time-independent string configurations are summarized. Two classes of results have…
Duality is an indispensable tool for describing the strong-coupling dynamics of gauge theories. However, its actual realization is often quite subtle: quantities such as the partition function can transform covariantly, with degrees of…
We will report on recent advances in the understanding of non-perturbative interconnections between different string dualities. Weak-strong coupling duality (S-duality) and T-duality (symmetry under compactification on dual tori) allows one…
Montonen and Olive's conjecture in 1977 that some theories possess a duality symmetry that interchanges the electrically charged particle with that of negatively charged t' Hooft-Polyakov monopoles which relates strong coupling to weak…
We discuss electric-magnetic duality in two new classes of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. The models have gauge group $Sp(2\nc)$ or $SO(\nc)$ with matter in both the adjoint and defining representations. By perturbing these theories…
We discuss the spontaneous supersymetry breaking within the low-energy effective supergravity action of four-dimensional superstrings. In particular, we emphasize the non-universality of the soft supersymmetry breaking parameters, the…
We present a strong-weak coupling duality for quantum mechanical potentials. Similarly to what happens in quantum field theory, it relates two problems with inverse couplings, leading to a mapping of the strong coupling regime into the weak…
We study electric-magnetic duality in Lorentz invariant symmetric tensor gauge theories, where immobile charged particles - fractons - arise due to the generalized current conservation $\partial_{\mu} \partial_{\nu} J^{\mu \nu} = 0$ and the…
On compactification to six spacetime dimensions, the fundamental heterotic string admits as a soliton a dual string whose effective worldsheet action couples to the background fields of the dual formulation of six-dimensional supergravity.…
In this paper I bring the recent philosophical literature on theoretical equivalence to bear on dualities in physics. Focusing on electromagnetic duality, which is a simple example of S-duality in string theory, I will show that the duality…
Starting with two supersymmetric dual theories, we imagine adding a chiral perturbation that breaks supersymmetry dynamically. At low energy we then get two theories with soft supersymmetry-breaking terms that are generated dynamically.…
The structure of S-duality in U(1) gauge theory on a 4-manifold M is examined using the formalism of noncommutative geometry. A noncommutative space is constructed from the algebra of Wilson-'t Hooft line operators which encodes both the…
Geometric structures and dualities arise naturally in quantum field theories and string theory. In fact, these tools become very useful when studying strong coupling effects, where standard perturbative techniques can no longer be used. In…
T-duality is a symmetry of the heterotic string to all orders in string perturbation theory. This results in an effective four dimensional supergravity theory with desirable features for phenomenology. T-duality, as well as, generically, an…
The heterotic string theory, compactified to four dimensions, has been conjectured to have a duality symmetry (S duality) that transforms the dilaton nonlinearly. If valid, this symmetry could provide an important means of obtaining…
Chapters : 1. Introduction to electric-magnetic duality 2. Classical duality in bosonic brane electrodynamics 3. Massless spin two gauge theory 4. Duality-symmetric actions and chiral forms 5. BRST quantization of duality-symmetric…
We briefly review the basics of electric-magnetic duality symmetry and their geometric interpretation in the M-theory context. Then we recall some no-go theorems that prevent a simple extension of the duality symmetry to non-Abelian gauge…