Higher Derivative Brane Couplings from T-Duality

TL;DR

This paper predicts and confirms higher derivative couplings on D-branes involving the B-field using T-duality and string worldsheet calculations, extending known curvature couplings to include NS-NS fields.

Contribution

It introduces new four-derivative brane couplings involving the B-field, derived from T-duality and validated through explicit string amplitude computations.

Findings

Predicted new couplings involving the B-field using T-duality.

Confirmed the couplings with explicit disc amplitude calculations.

Extended the understanding of higher derivative corrections on D-branes.

Abstract

The Wess-Zumino coupling on D-branes in string theory is known to receive higher derivative corrections which couple the Ramond-Ramond potential to terms involving the square of the spacetime curvature tensor. Consistency with T-duality implies that the branes should also have four-derivative couplings that involve the NS-NS B-field. We use T-duality to predict some of these couplings. We then confirm these results with string worldsheet computations by evaluating disc amplitudes with insertions of one R-R and two NS-NS vertex operators.