T-duality constraints on higher derivatives revisited

We ask to what extent are the higher-derivative corrections of string theory constrained by t-duality. the seminal early work by meissner tests t-duality by reduction to one dimension using a distinguished choice of field variables in which the bosonic string action takes a gauss-bonnet-type form. by analyzing all field redefinitions that or not be duality covariant and or not be gauge covariant we extend the procedure to test t-duality starting from an action expressed in arbitrary field variables. we illustrate the method by showing that it determines uniquely the first-order α′ corrections of the bosonic string, up to terms that vanish in one dimension. we also use the method to glean information about the $$ mathcal{o}left({alpha}^{prime 2}right) $$ corrections in the double field theory with green-schwarz deformation.