String theory dualities and supergravity divergences

TL;DR

This paper shows how string theory dualities precisely determine the ultraviolet divergence coefficients in supergravity and highlights the dominance of non-perturbative effects in the supergravity limit.

Contribution

It establishes a link between string dualities and supergravity divergences, providing explicit calculations of moduli-dependent terms in the effective action.

Findings

Duality invariance fixes multiloop divergence coefficients.

Explicit moduli dependence of D^{2k}R^4 terms for k<=3.

Non-perturbative instanton effects dominate in the supergravity limit.

Abstract

We demonstrate how duality invariance of the low energy expansion of the four-graviton amplitude in type II string theory determines the precise coefficients of multiloop logarithmic ultraviolet divergences of maximal supergravity in various dimensions. This is illustrated by the explicit moduli-dependence of terms of the form D^{2k}R^4, with k<= 3, in the effective action. Furthermore, we show that in the supergravity limit the perturbative contributions are swamped by an accumulation of non-perturbative effects of zero-action instantons.