Duality groups, automorphic forms, and higher derivative corrections

We study the higher derivative corrections that occur in type II superstring theories in ten dimensions or less. Assuming invariance under a discrete duality group G(Z) we show that the generic functions of the scalar fields that occur can be identified with automorphic forms. We then give a systematic method to construct automorphic forms from a given group G(Z) together with a chosen subgroup H and a linear representation of G(Z). This construction is based on the theory of nonlinear realizations and we find that the automorphic forms contain the weights of G. We also carry out the dimensional reduction of the generic higher derivative corrections of the IIB theory to three dimensions and find that the weights of E₈ occur generalizing previous results of the authors on M theory. Since the automorphic forms of this theory contain the weights of E₈ we can interpret the occurrence of weights in the dimensional reduction as evidence for an underlying U-duality symmetry.