Dualities and signatures of G++ invariant theories

The G++ content of the formulation of gravity and M-theories as very-extended Kac-Moody invariant theories is further analysed. The different exotic phases of all the G_B++ theories, which admit exact solutions describing intersecting branes smeared in all directions but one, are derived. This is achieved by analysing for all G++ the signatures which are related to the conventional one (1,D-1) by `dualities' generated by the Weyl reflections.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figure

An E9 multiplet of BPS states

We construct an infinite E9 multiplet of BPS states for 11D supergravity. For each positive real root of E9 we obtain a BPS solution of 11D supergravity, or of its exotic counterparts, depending on two non-compact transverse space variables. All these solutions are related by U-dualities realised via E9 Weyl transformations in the regular embedding of E9 in E10, E10 in E11. In this way we recover the basic BPS solutions, namely the KK-wave, the M2 brane, the M5 brane and the KK6-monopole, as well as other solutions admitting eight longitudinal space dimensions. A novel technique of combining Weyl reflexions with compensating transformations allows the construction of many new BPS solutions, each of which can be mapped to a solution of a dual effective action of gravity coupled to a certain higher rank tensor field. For real roots of E10 which are not roots of E9, we obtain additional BPS solutions transcending 11D supergravity (as exemplified by the lowest level solution corresponding to the M9 brane). The relation between the dual formulation and the one in terms of the original 11D supergravity fields has significance beyond the realm of BPS solutions. We establish the link with the Geroch group of general relativity, and explain how the E9 duality transformations generalize the standard Hodge dualities to an infinite set of `non-closing dualities'.Comment: 76 pages, 6 figure

Finite and infinite-dimensional symmetries of pure N=2 supergravity in D=4

We study the symmetries of pure N=2 supergravity in D=4. As is known, this theory reduced on one Killing vector is characterised by a non-linearly realised symmetry SU(2,1) which is a non-split real form of SL(3,C). We consider the BPS brane solutions of the theory preserving half of the supersymmetry and the action of SU(2,1) on them. Furthermore we provide evidence that the theory exhibits an underlying algebraic structure described by the Lorentzian Kac-Moody group SU(2,1)^{+++}. This evidence arises both from the correspondence between the bosonic space-time fields of N=2 supergravity in D=4 and a one-parameter sigma-model based on the hyperbolic group SU(2,1)^{++}, as well as from the fact that the structure of BPS brane solutions is neatly encoded in SU(2,1)^{+++}. As a nice by-product of our analysis, we obtain a regular embedding of the Kac-Moody algebra su(2,1)^{+++} in e_{11} based on brane physics.Comment: 70 pages, final version published in JHE

Algèbres de Kac-Moody dans les théories de supergravité

A lot of developments made during the last years show that Kac-Moody algebras play an important role in the algebraic structure of some supergravity theories. These algebras would generate infinite-dimensional symmetry groups. The possible existence of such symmetries have motivated the reformulation of these theories as non-linear sigma-models based on the Kac-Moody symmetry groups. Such models are constructed in terms of an infinite number of fields parametrizing the generators of the corresponding algebra. If these conjectured symmetries are indeed actual symmetries of certain supergravity theories, a meaningful question to elucidate will be the interpretation of this infinite tower of fields. Another substantial problem is to find the correspondence between the sigma-models, which are explicitly invariant under the conjectured symmetries, and these corresponding space-time theories. The subject of this thesis is to address these questions in certain cases. This dissertation is divided in three parts. In Part I, we first review the mathematical background on Kac-Moody algebras required to understand the results of this thesis. We then describe the investigations of the underlying symmetry structure of supergravity theories. In Part II, we focus on the bosonic sector of eleven-dimensional supergravity which would be invariant under the extended symmetry E_{11}. We study its subalgebra E_{10} and more precisely the real roots of its affine subalgebra E_9. For each positive real roots of E_9 we obtain a BPS solution of eleven-dimensional supergravity or of its exotic counterparts. All these solutions are related by U-dualities which are realized via E_9 Weyl transformations. In Part III, we study the symmetries of pure N=2 supergravity in D=4. As is known, the dimensional reduction of this model with one Killing vector is characterized by a non-linearly realized symmetry SU(2,1). We consider the BPS brane solutions of this theory preserving half of the supersymmetry and the action of SU(2,1) on them. Infinite-dimensional symmetries are also studied and we provide evidence that the theory exhibits an underlying algebraic structure described by the Lorentzian Kac-Mody group SU(2,1)^{+++}. This evidence arises from the correspondence between the bosonic space-time fields of N=2 supergravity in D=4 and a one-parameter sigma-model based on the hyperbolic group SU(2,1)^{++}. It also follows from the structure of BPS brane solutions which is neatly encoded in SU(2,1)^{+++}. As a worthy by-product of our analysis, we obtain a regular embedding of su(2,1)^{+++} in E_{11} based on brane physics./ Nombreuses sont les recherches récentes indiquant que différentes théories de gravité couplée à un certain type de champs de matière pourraient être caractérisées par des algèbres de Kac-Moody. Celles-ci généreraient des symétries infinies-dimensionnelles. L'existence possible de ces symétries a motivé la reformulation de ces théories par des actions explicitement invariantes sous les transformations du groupe de Kac-Moody. Ces actions sont construites en termes d'une infinité de champs associés à l'infinité de générateurs de l'algèbre correspondante. Si la conjecture de ces symétries est exacte, qu'en est-il de l'interprétation de l'infinité de champs? Qu'en est-il d'autre part de la correspondance entre ces actions explicitement invariantes sous les groupes de Kac-Moody et les théories d'espace-temps correspondantes? C'est autour de ces questions que gravite cette thèse.Nous nous sommes d'abord focalisés sur le secteur bosonique de la supergravité à 11 dimensions qui possèderait selon diverses études une symétrie étendue E_{11}. Nous avons étudié la sous-algèbre E_{10} et plus particulièrement les racines réelles de sa sous-algèbre affine E_9. Pour chacune de ces racines, nous avons obtenu une solution BPS de la supergravité à 11 dimensions dépendant de deux dimensions d'espace non-compactes. Cette infinité de solutions résulte de transformations de Weyl successives sur des champs dont l'interprétation physique d'espace-temps était connue. Nous avons ensuite analysé les symétries de la supergravité N=2 à 4 dimensions dont le secteur bosonique contient la gravité couplée à un champ de Maxwell. Cette théorie réduite sur un vecteur de Killing est caractérisée par la symétrie SU(2,1). Nous avons considéré les solutions de brane BPS qui préservent la moitié des supersymétries ainsi que l'action du groupe SU(2,1) sur ces solutions. Les symétries infinies-dimensionnelles ont également été étudiées. D'une part, la correspondance entre les champs d'espace-temps de la théorie N=2 et le modèle sigma basé sur le groupe hyperbolique SU(2,1)^{++} est établie. D'autre part, on montre que la structure des solutions de brane BPS est bien encodée dans SU(2,1)^{+++}. Ces considérations argumentent le fait que la supergravité N=2 possèderait une structure algébrique décrite par le groupe de Kac-Moody Lorentzien SU(2,1)^{+++}.Doctorat en Sciencesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe