What U Can Do: New Solutions and New Challenges Beyond Leading Order

Abstract

String theories naturally exhibit dualities that lead to hidden symmetries in the low-energy effective description, which have been used to great effect to generate supergravity solutions. We review recent progress in using hidden symmetries arising from T-duality to generate higher-derivative-corrected solutions, as well as the problems that arise from non-perturbative effects when extending this paradigm to hidden symmetries arising from U-duality.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: Illustration of momentum (blue) and winding (red) modes for strings compactified on a circle.
• Figure 2: Schematic depiction of the series of uplifts and transformations used to obtain the two-derivative Kerr-Sen solution.
• Figure 3: Schematic depiction of the series of uplifts, field redefinitions, and transformations we perform to obtain the four-derivative Kerr-Sen solution.