On the curious spectrum of duality invariant higher-derivative gravity

Journal Article · Wed Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of High Energy Physics (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2016)173· OSTI ID:1362134

Hohm, Olaf ^[1]; Naseer, Usman ^[2]; Zwiebach, Barton ^[2]

---

1. Stony Brook Univ., Stony Brook, NY (United States)
2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Here, we analyze the spectrum of the exactly duality and gauge invariant higher-derivative double field theory. While this theory is based on a chiral CFT and does not correspond to a standard string theory, our analysis illuminates a number of issues central in string theory. The full quadratic action is rewritten as a two-derivative theory with additional fields. This allows for a simple analysis of the spectrum, which contains two massive spin-2 ghosts and massive scalars, in addition to the massless fields. Moreover, in this formulation, the massless or tensionless limit α' → ∞ is non-singular and leads to an enhanced gauge symmetry. We show that the massive modes can be integrated out exactly at the quadratic level, leading to an infinite series of higher-derivative corrections. Lastly, we present a ghost-free massive extension of linearized double field theory, which employs a novel mass term for the dilaton and metric.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0012567
• OSTI ID: 1362134
• Journal Information: Journal of High Energy Physics (Online), Vol. 2016, Issue 8; ISSN 1029-8479
• Publisher: Springer Berlin
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
effective field theories
string duality