Duality from Topological Symmetry

Abstract

We describe topological gauge theories for which duality properties are encoded by construction. We study them for compact manifolds of dimensions four, eight and two. The fields and their duals are treated symmetrically, within the context of field--antifield unification. Dual formulations correspond to different gauge-fixings of the topological symmetry. We also describe novel features in eight-dimensional theories, and speculate about their possible "Abelian" descriptions.

30 pages, harvmac file, references added

References in corpus (5)

• Matrix String Theory
• Heterotic / type I duality and D-brane instantons
• Higher Dimensional Analogues of Donaldson-Witten Theory
• Donaldson invariants for nonsimply connected manifolds
• On Forms with Non-Abelian Charges and Their Dualities

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Higher Derivative Couplings and Heterotic-Type I Duality in Eight Dimensions
• Topological Symmetry of forms, N=1 Supersymmetry and S-duality on Special Manifolds
• QCD_4 From a Five-Dimensional Point of View
• Octonions, G_2 Symmetry, Generalized Self-Duality and Supersymmetries in Dimensions D \le 8
• Symmetries of topological field theories in the BV-framework
• Cohomological extension of Spin(7)-invariant super Yang-Mills theory in eight dimensions