Non-isometric T-duality from gauged sigma models

Abstract

Local symmetries is one of the most successful themes in modern theoretical physics. Although they are usually associated to Lie algebras, a gradual increase of interest in more general situations where local symmetries are associated to groupoids and algebroids has taken place in recent years. On the other hand, dualities is another persistently interesting theme in modern physics. One of the most prominent examples is provided by target space duality in string theory. The latter, Abelian or not, is usually associated to the presence of isometries, which is however a very restrictive assumption. In this contribution we discuss some recent advances located at the intersection of the above two themes. Focusing on bosonic string sigma models we discuss certain gauged versions where (a) the invariance conditions on the background fields are much milder than the isometric case and (b) the gauge symmetry is generically associated to a Lie algebroid instead of just a Lie algebra. Furthermore we utilize such gauged sigma models to study the possibility of non-Abelian, non-isometric T-duality.