Duality rotations in nonlinear electrodynamics and in extended supergravity

We review the general theory of duality rotations which, in four dimensions, exchange electric with magnetic fields. Necessary and sufficient conditions in order for a theory to have duality symmetry are established. A nontrivial example is Born-Infeld theory with n Abelian gauge fields and with Sp(2n, ℝ) self-duality. We then review duality symmetry in supergravity theories. In the case of N = 2 supergravity duality rotations are in general not a symmetry of the theory but a key ingredient in order to formulate the theory itself. This is due to the beautiful relation between the geometry of special Kähler manifolds and duality rotations.