Ehlers transformations as EM duality in the double copy

Abstract

Given a solution to 4D Einstein gravity with an isometry direction, it is known that the equations of motion are identical to those of a 3D 𝜎 model with target space geometry 𝑆⁢𝑈⁡(1,1)/𝑈⁡(1). Thus, any transformation by 𝑆⁢𝑈⁡(1,1)≅𝑆⁢𝐿⁡(2,ℝ) is a symmetry for the action and allows one to generate new solutions in 4D. Here we clarify and extend recent work on electromagnetic (EM) duality in the context of the classical double copy. In particular, for pure gravity, we identify an explicit map between the Maxwell field of the single copy and the scalars in the target space, allowing us to identify the 𝑈⁡(1)⊂𝑆⁢𝐿⁡(2,ℝ) symmetry dual to EM duality in the single copy. Moreover, we extend the analysis to Einstein-Maxwell theory, where we highlight the role of Ehlers-Harrison transformations and, for spherically symmetric charged black hole solutions, we interpret the equations of motion as a truncation of the putative single copy for Einstein-Yang-Mills theory.