Quadratic Curvature Corrections in Double Field Theory via Double Copy

Abstract: Recent advances in the classical Double Copy (DC) procedure have revealed a profound connection between gauge theories and T-duality invariant frameworks, with Double Field Theory (the classical DC of Yang-Mills theory) emerging as the first explicit example. Extending this procedure to higher-derivative gauge theories predicts the existence of a Higher-Derivative Double Theory (HDDT), which incorporates Weyl gravity along with $b$-field and dilaton contributions, all in a T-duality invariant manner. In this work, we show that combining both mappings leads to DFT$+$, a T-duality invariant model related to the bosonic string, incorporating first-order $\alpha'$ corrections upon parameterization. Our results expand the potential applications of the DC program towards constructing perturbative $\alpha'$-corrected Lagrangians, while also opening up possibilities for reversing the map by considering the single and zeroth copies.