Moduli spaces of type II twists

Abstract

We provide a complete classification of twisting supercharges for type IIA supergravity in a flat background by determining the orbits of square-zero elements in the (1,1) super Poincaré algebra in ten dimensions under the action of the Spin group. Together with recent results for type IIB, this completes the description of the moduli space of twists for type II supergravities. Further, we discuss the origins of these twists as dimensional reductions from eleven dimensions. Using the pure spinor formulation of the superstring, we relate the target space classification to worldsheet twists and identify supergravity counterparts of mixed A/B models. Finally, we work out the action of T-duality that relates twists of type IIA with those of type IIB.