Heterotic Kerr-Schild Double Field Theory and Classical Double Copy

Abstract

We discuss the generalization of the Kerr-Schild (KS) formalism for general relativity and double field theory (DFT) to the heterotic DFT and supergravity. We first introduce a heterotic KS ansatz by introducing a pair of null O(d,d+G) generalized tangent vectors. The pair of null vectors are represented by a pair of d-dimensional vector fields, and one of the vector fields is not a null vector. This implies that the null property of the usual KS formalism, which plays a crucial role in linearizing the field equations, can be partially relaxed in a consistent way. We show that the equations of motion under the heterotic KS ansatz in a flat background can be reduced to linear equations. Using the heterotic KS equations, we establish the single and zeroth copy for heterotic supergravity and derive the Maxwell and Maxwell-scalar equations. This agrees with the KLT relation for heterotic string theory.