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Main Authors: Chen, Bin, He, Song, Hou, Jue
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.03129
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author Chen, Bin
He, Song
Hou, Jue
author_facet Chen, Bin
He, Song
Hou, Jue
contents Electric-magnetic duality plays a pivotal role in understanding the structure of nonlinear electrodynamics (NED). The Gaillard-Zumino (GZ) criterion provides a powerful constraint for identifying self-dual theories. In this work, we systematically explore solutions to the GZ self-duality condition by applying the method of characteristics, a robust tool for solving nonlinear partial differential equations. Our approach enables the construction of new classes of Lagrangians that respect duality symmetry, both in the relativistic and Carrollian frameworks. In the relativistic setting, we not only recover well-known examples such as Born-Infeld and ModMax theories, but also identify novel models. We then generalize the GZ formalism to the Carrollian case and construct several classes of Carrollian self-dual non-linear electrodynamic models. Remarkably, we demonstrate that the characteristic flow exhibits an attractor behavior, in the sense that different seed theories that may not be self-dual can generate the same descendant self-dual Lagrangian. These findings broaden the landscape of self-dual theories and open new directions for exploring duality in ultra-relativistic regimes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_03129
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Self-Dual Electrodynamics via the Characteristic Method: Relativistic and Carrollian Perspectives
Chen, Bin
He, Song
Hou, Jue
High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Mathematical Physics
Electric-magnetic duality plays a pivotal role in understanding the structure of nonlinear electrodynamics (NED). The Gaillard-Zumino (GZ) criterion provides a powerful constraint for identifying self-dual theories. In this work, we systematically explore solutions to the GZ self-duality condition by applying the method of characteristics, a robust tool for solving nonlinear partial differential equations. Our approach enables the construction of new classes of Lagrangians that respect duality symmetry, both in the relativistic and Carrollian frameworks. In the relativistic setting, we not only recover well-known examples such as Born-Infeld and ModMax theories, but also identify novel models. We then generalize the GZ formalism to the Carrollian case and construct several classes of Carrollian self-dual non-linear electrodynamic models. Remarkably, we demonstrate that the characteristic flow exhibits an attractor behavior, in the sense that different seed theories that may not be self-dual can generate the same descendant self-dual Lagrangian. These findings broaden the landscape of self-dual theories and open new directions for exploring duality in ultra-relativistic regimes.
title Self-Dual Electrodynamics via the Characteristic Method: Relativistic and Carrollian Perspectives
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Mathematical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.03129