Transitive Courant algebroids, string structures and T-duality (Q5962828)

This paper deals with the problem of T-duality in heterotic string theory. By utilizing the reduction by extended actions, the authors are successful in offering a construction of transitive Courant algebroids from string classes. In effect, they discern between simple reduction and reduction by extended actions and they are able to give conditions by which these reduction procedures for commuting actions commute. By imposing some certain conditions on a transitive Courant algebroid, they introduce heterotic Courant algebroids and present their classifications. Indeed, the heterotic Courant algebroids are obtained from exact Courant algebroids by reduction. The authors, then, construct the theory of T-duality by reduction and give an isomorphism of heterotic Courant algebroids. More specifically, there is an isomorphism of exact Courant algebroids in ordinary T-duality and the authors, by the same token, construct an isomorphism of heterotic Courant algebroids by utilizing reductions. Moreover, the authors define generalised metric on a transitive Courant algebroids, and then they study T-duality of generalized metrics on heterotic Courant algebroids. Indeed they derive the T-duality transformation for generalised metrics and prove that the heterotic Einstein equations are preserved. The authors also provide several classes of examples to show that the presence of string structures extends the domain of applicability of T-duality significantly.