Self-Dual Gauge Fields from Superstring Field Theory

TL;DR

This paper derives an action for self-dual gauge fields from superstring field theory, revealing a novel coupling to multiple metrics and two spin-two gauge invariances, extending previous formulations by Sen.

Contribution

It introduces a new superstring field theory framework that yields a self-dual gauge field action with unique metric couplings and gauge invariances, connecting to Sen's theory in a specific limit.

Findings

Derivation of the self-dual gauge field action from superstring field theory.

Identification of two decoupled self-dual gauge fields coupling to separate metrics.

Discovery of non-standard non-linear couplings involving three metrics.

Abstract

The action for self-dual gauge fields that emerges from the recently constructed superstring field theory is found. The new superstring field theory reduces to that of Sen in a certain limit, and in this limit the new action for self-dual gauge fields reduces to Sen's action for such fields. The theory describes two decoupled self-dual gauge fields that couple to two metrics, with each gauge field coupling to only one of the metrics. The action also features a background metric, and the non-linear coupling to these three metrics is non-standard. There are two spin-two gauge invariances, and diffeomorphisms arise from the diagonal subgroup.