Duality as a Gauge Symmetry and Topology Change
نویسنده
چکیده
Duality groups as (spontaneously broken) gauge symmetries for toroidal backgrounds, and their role in (∞-dimensional) underlying string gauge algebras are reviewed. For curved backgrounds, it is shown that there is a duality in the moduli space of WZNW sigma-models, that can be interpreted as a broken gauge symmetry. In particular, this duality relates the backgrounds corresponding to axially gauged abelian cosets, G/U(1)a, to vectorially gauged abelian cosets, G/U(1)v. Finally, topology change in the moduli space of WZNW sigma-models is discussed. Talk presented at the “Strings 93” conference, May 24-29, 1993, Berkeley. To appear in the Proceedings. e-mail address: [email protected]
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