Second Quantized Mathieu Moonshine

We study the second quantized version of the twisted twining genera of generalized Mathieu moonshine, and prove that they give rise to Siegel modular forms with infinite product representations. Most of these forms are expected to have an interpretation as twisted partition functions counting 1/4 BPS dyons in type II superstring theory on K3\times T^2 or in heterotic CHL-models. We show that all these Siegel modular forms, independently of their possible physical interpretation, satisfy an "S-duality" transformation and a "wall-crossing formula". The latter reproduces all the eta-products of an older version of generalized Mathieu moonshine proposed by Mason in the '90s. Surprisingly, some of the Siegel modular forms we find coincide with the multiplicative (Borcherds) lifts of Jacobi forms in umbral moonshine.Comment: 91 pages. Theorem 5.3 added; presentation improved, comments and explanations adde

Dualities in CHL-Models

We define a very general class of CHL-models associated with any string theory (bosonic or supersymmetric) compactified on an internal CFT C x T^d. We take the orbifold by a pair (g,\delta), where g is a (possibly non-geometric) symmetry of C and \delta is a translation along T^d. We analyze the T-dualities of these models and show that in general they contain Atkin-Lehner type symmetries. This generalizes our previous work on N=4 CHL-models based on heterotic string theory on T^6 or type II on K3 x T^2, as well as the `monstrous' CHL-models based on a compactification of heterotic string theory on the Frenkel-Lepowsky-Meurman CFT V^{\natural}.Comment: 18 page

Fricke S-duality in CHL models

We consider four dimensional CHL models with sixteen spacetime supersymmetries obtained from orbifolds of type IIA superstring on K3 x T^2 by a Z_N symmetry acting (possibly) non-geometrically on K3. We show that most of these models (in particular, for geometric symmetries) are self-dual under a weak-strong duality acting on the heterotic axio-dilaton modulus S by a "Fricke involution" S --> -1/NS. This is a novel symmetry of CHL models that lies outside of the standard SL(2,Z)-symmetry of the parent theory, heterotic strings on T^6. For self-dual models this implies that the lattice of purely electric charges is N-modular, i.e. isometric to its dual up to a rescaling of its quadratic form by N. We verify this prediction by determining the lattices of electric and magnetic charges in all relevant examples. We also calculate certain BPS-saturated couplings and verify that they are invariant under the Fricke S-duality. For CHL models that are not self-dual, the strong coupling limit is dual to type IIA compactified on T^6/Z_N, for some Z_N-symmetry preserving half of the spacetime supersymmetries.Comment: 56 pages, 3 figures; v3: some minor mistakes correcte

Coxeter group structure of cosmological billiards on compact spatial manifolds

We present a systematic study of the cosmological billiard structures of Einstein-p-form systems in which all spatial directions are compactified on a manifold of nontrivial topology. This is achieved for all maximally oxidised theories associated with split real forms, for all possible compactifications as defined by the de Rham cohomology of the internal manifold. In each case, we study the Coxeter group that controls the dynamics for energy scales below the Planck scale as well as the relevant billiard region. We compare and contrast them with the Weyl group and fundamental domain that emerge from the general BKL analysis. For generic topologies we find a variety of possibilities: (i) The group may or may not be a simplex Coxeter group; (ii) The billiard region may or may not be a fundamental domain. When it is not a fundamental domain, it can be described as a sequence of pairwise adjacent chambers, known as a gallery, and the reflections in the billiard walls provide a non-standard presentation of the Coxeter group. We find that it is only when the Coxeter group is a simplex Coxeter group, and the billiard region is a fundamental domain, that there is a correspondence between billiard walls and simple roots of a Kac-Moody algebra, as in the general BKL analysis. For each compactification we also determine whether or not the resulting theory exhibits chaotic dynamics.Comment: 51 pages. Typos corrected. References added. Submitted for publicatio

Fourier expansions of Kac-Moody Eisenstein series and degenerate Whittaker vectors

Motivated by string theory scattering amplitudes that are invariant under a discrete U-duality, we study Fourier coefficients of Eisenstein series on Kac-Moody groups. In particular, we analyse the Eisenstein series on $E_9(R)$, $E_{10}(R)$ and $E_{11}(R)$ corresponding to certain degenerate principal series at the values s=3/2 and s=5/2 that were studied in 1204.3043. We show that these Eisenstein series have very simple Fourier coefficients as expected for their role as supersymmetric contributions to the higher derivative couplings $R^4$ and $\partial^{4} R^4$ coming from 1/2-BPS and 1/4-BPS instantons, respectively. This suggests that there exist minimal and next-to-minimal unipotent automorphic representations of the associated Kac-Moody groups to which these special Eisenstein series are attached. We also provide complete explicit expressions for degenerate Whittaker vectors of minimal Eisenstein series on $E_6(R)$, $E_7(R)$ and $E_8(R)$ that have not appeared in the literature before.Comment: 62 pages. Journal versio

Monstrous BPS-Algebras and the Superstring Origin of Moonshine

We provide a physics derivation of Monstrous moonshine. We show that the McKay-Thompson series $T_g$, $g\in \mathbb{M}$, can be interpreted as supersymmetric indices counting spacetime BPS-states in certain heterotic string models. The invariance groups of these series arise naturally as spacetime T-duality groups and their genus zero property descends from the behaviour of these heterotic models in suitable decompactification limits. We also show that the space of BPS-states forms a module for the Monstrous Lie algebras $\mathfrak{m}_g$, constructed by Borcherds and Carnahan. We argue that $\mathfrak{m}_g$ arise in the heterotic models as algebras of spontaneously broken gauge symmetries, whose generators are in exact correspondence with BPS-states. This gives $\mathfrak{m}_g$ an interpretation as a kind of BPS-algebra.Comment: 73 pages, with results summarized in introduction. v2: added a discussion about coupling to gravity (section 3.3), additional references, minor corrections and improvement

BPS Algebras, Genus Zero, and the Heterotic Monster

In this note, we expand on some technical issues raised in \cite{PPV} by the authors, as well as providing a friendly introduction to and summary of our previous work. We construct a set of heterotic string compactifications to 0+1 dimensions intimately related to the Monstrous moonshine module of Frenkel, Lepowsky, and Meurman (and orbifolds thereof). Using this model, we review our physical interpretation of the genus zero property of Monstrous moonshine. Furthermore, we show that the space of (second-quantized) BPS-states forms a module over the Monstrous Lie algebras $\mathfrak{m}_g$---some of the first and most prominent examples of Generalized Kac-Moody algebras---constructed by Borcherds and Carnahan. In particular, we clarify the structure of the module present in the second-quantized string theory. We also sketch a proof of our methods in the language of vertex operator algebras, for the interested mathematician.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

Political Competition and Economic Performance: Theory and Evidence from the United States

We formulate a model to explain why the lack of political competition may stifle economic performance and use the United States as a testing ground for the model’s predictions, exploiting the 1965 Voting Rights Act which helped break the near monpoly on political power of the Democrats in southern states. We find statistically robust evidence that changes in political competition have quantitatively important effects on state income growth, state policies, and quality of Governors. By our bottom-line estimate, the increase in political competition triggered by the Voting Rights Act raised long-run per capita income in the average affected state by about 20 percent.US south; voting restrictions; political competition; economic growth