Duality and Canonical Transformations

We present a brief review on the canonical transformation description of some duality symmetries in string and gauge theories. In particular, we consider abelian and non-abelian T-dualities in closed and open string theories as well as S-duality in abelian and non-abelian non-supersymmetric gauge theories.Comment: 21 pgs, latex file, talk given at the Argonne Duality Institute, June 27-July 12, 1996, to appear in the e-proceeding

Non-BPS D-brane Solutions in Six Dimensional Orbifolds

Starting with the non-BPS D0-brane solution of IIB/$(-1)^{F_L}I_4$ constructed recently by Eyras and Panda we construct via T-duality the non-BPS D2-brane and D1-brane solutions of IIB/$(-1)^{F_L}I_4$ and IIA/$(-1)^{F_L}I_4$ predicted by Sen. The D2-brane couples magnetically to the vector field of the NS5B-brane living in the twisted sector of the Type IIB orbifold, whereas the D1-brane couples (electrically and magnetically) to the self-dual 2-form potential of the NS5A-brane that is present in the twisted sector of the Type IIA orbifold construction. Finally we discuss the eleven dimensional interpretation of these branes as originating from a non-BPS M1-brane solution of M-theory orientifolded by $\Omega_\rho I_5$

Some Global Aspects of Duality is String Theory

We explore some of the global aspects of duality transformations in String Theory and Field Theory. We analyze in some detail the equivalence of dual models corresponding to different topologies at the level of the partition function and in terms of the operator correspondence for abelian duality. We analyze the behavior of the cosmological constant under these transformations. We also explore several examples of non-abelian duality where the classical background interpretation can be maintained for the original and the dual theories. In particular we construct a non-abelian dual of $SL(2,R)$ which turns out to be a three-dimensional black holeComment: 31pp. One figure available upon request. CERN-TH-6991/6

Power scaling rules for charmonia production and HQEFT

We discuss the power scaling rules along the lines of a complete Heavy Quark Effective Field Theory (HQEFT) for the description of heavy quarkonium production through a color-octet mechanism. To this end, we firstly derive a tree-level heavy quark effective Lagrangian keeping both particle-antiparticle mixed sectors allowing for heavy quark-antiquark pair annihilation and creation, but describing only low-energy modes around the heavy quark mass. Then we show the consistency of using HQEFT fields in constructing four-fermion local operators a la NRQCD, to be identified with standard color-octet matrix elements. We analyze some numerical values extracted from charmonia production by different authors and their hierarchy in the light of HQEFT.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages, 3 EPS figure

Duality of Super D-brane Actions in General Type IIB Supergravity Background

We examine duality transformations of supersymmetric and $\kappa$-symmetric Dp-brane actions in a general type II supergravity background where in particular the dilaton and the axion are supposed to not be zero or a constant but a general superfield. Due to non-constant dilaton and axion, we can explicitly show that the dilaton and the axion as well as the two 2-form gauge potentials transform as doublets under the $SL(2,R)$ transformation from the point of view of the world-volume field theory.Comment: 32 pages, LaTex 2

CP violation in semileptonic tau lepton decays

The leading order contribution to the direct CP asymmetry in tau^{+/-} -> K^{+/-} pi^0 nu_{tau} decay rates is evaluated within the Standard Model. The weak phase required for CP violation is introduced through an interesting mechanism involving second order weak interactions, which is also responsible for tiny violations of the Delta S= Delta Q rule in K_{l3} decays. The calculated CP asymmetry turns out to be of order 10^{-12}, leaving a large window for studying effects of non-standard sources of CP violation in this observable.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, version published in Phys.Rev.