A Tour of T-duality: Geometric and Topological Aspects of T-dualities

Abstract

The primary focus of this thesis is to investigate the mathematical and physical properties of spaces that are related by T-duality and its generalisations. In string theory, T-duality is a relationship between two a priori different string backgrounds which nevertheless behave identically from a physical point of view. These backgrounds can have different geometries, different fluxes, and even be topologically distinct manifolds. T-duality is a uniquely `stringy' phenomenon, since it does not occur in a theory of point particles, and together with other dualities has been incredibly useful in elucidating the nature of string theory and M-theory. There exist various generalisations of the usual T-duality, some of which are still putative, and none of which are fully understood. Some of these dualities are inspired by mathematics and some are inspired by physics. These generalisations include non-abelian T-duality, Poisson-Lie T-duality, non-isometric T-duality, and spherical T-duality. In this thesis we review T-duality and its various generalisations, studying the geometric, topological, and physical properties of spaces related by these dualities.