Perturbative couplings of vector multiplets in N = 2 heterotic string vacua

Abstract

We study the low-energy effective Lagrangian of $N=2$ heterotic string vacua at the classical and quantum level. The couplings of the vector multiplets are uniquely determined at the tree level, while the loop corrections are severely constrained by the exact discrete symmetries of the string vacuum. We evaluate the general transformation law of the perturbative prepotential and determine its form for the toroidal compactifications of six-dimensional $N=1$ supersymmetric vacua.