Stringy differential geometry, beyond Riemann

While the fundamental object in Riemannian geometry is a metric, closed string theories call for us to put a two-form gauge field and a scalar dilaton on an equal footing with the metric. Here we propose a novel differential geometry that treats the three objects in a unified manner, manifests not only diffeomorphism and one-form gauge symmetry but also O(D, D) T-duality, and enables us to rewrite the known low energy effective action of them as a single term. Further, we develop a corresponding vielbein formalism and gauge the internal symmetry that is given by a direct product of two local Lorentz groups, SO(1, D - 1) x (SO) over bar (1, D - 1). We comment that the notion of cosmological constant naturally changes.