Double field theory describes a massless subsector of closed string theory
with both momentum and winding excitations. The gauge algebra is governed by
the Courant bracket in certain subsectors of this double field theory. We
construct the associated nonlinear background-independent action that is
T-duality invariant and realizes the Courant gauge algebra. The action is the
sum of a standard action for gravity, antisymmetric tensor, and dilaton fields
written with ordinary derivatives, a similar action for dual fields with dual
derivatives, and a mixed term that is needed for gauge invariance.Comment: 45 pages, v2: minor corrections, refs. added, to appear in JHE
