Exact Duality in String Effective Action

Abstract

We formulate sigma-model duality transformations in terms of spin connection. This allows to investigate the symmetry of the string action including higher order $\alpha'$ corrections. An important feature of the new duality transformations is a simple homogeneous transformation rule of the spin connection (with torsion) and specifically adjusted transformation of the Yang-Mills field. We have found that under certain conditions this duality is a symmetry of the full effective string action in the target space, free of $\alpha'$ corrections. We demonstrate how the exact duality generates new fundamental string solutions from supersymmetric string waves.