A Short Introduction to String Theory

A concise and pedagogical introduction to string theory for graduate students featuring examples and homework problems.

Thomas Mohaupt (Author)

9781108481380, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 April 2022

250 pages
26.2 x 18.4 x 2.1 cm, 0.636 kg

'This book complements the existing String Theory literature providing an introduction to Strings at a level in-between that found in other text books. The book presents a self-contained, clear and pedagogical discussion of the central topics and provides insightful comments on a variety of deeper conceptual points. It provides a well-rounded introduction to the many different ingredients of String Theory and describes the bigger picture of String Theory as quantum theory of spacetime and matter. It will be particularly useful to starting to early graduate students or Physicists from other fields.' Neil Lambert, King's College London

Suitable for graduate students in physics and mathematics, this book presents a concise and pedagogical introduction to string theory. It focuses on explaining the key concepts of string theory, such as bosonic strings, D-branes, supersymmetry and superstrings, and on clarifying the relationship between particles, fields and strings, without assuming an advanced background in particle theory or quantum field theory, making it widely accessible to interested readers from a range of backgrounds. Important ideas underpinning current research, such as partition functions, compactification, gauge symmetries and T-duality are analysed both from the world-sheet (conformal field theory) and the space-time (effective field theory) perspective. Ideal for either self-study or a one semester graduate course, A Short Introduction to String Theory is an essential resource for students studying string theory, containing examples and homework problems to develop understanding, with fully worked solutions available to instructors.

Dedication. Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part I. From Particles to Strings: 1. Classical relativistic point particles
2. Classical relativistic strings
3. Quantized relativistic particles and strings. Part II. The World-Sheet Perspective: 4. The free massless scalar field on the complex plane
5. Two-dimensional conformal field theories
6. Partition functions I
Part III. The Space-Time Perspective: 7. Covariant quantization I
8. Intermezzo: Representations of the Poincaré group
9. Covariant quantization II
10. Light-cone quantization
11. Partition functions II
Part IV. Outlook: 12. Interactions
13. Dimensional reduction and T-duality
14. Fermions and supersymmetry
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G. References. Index.

Subject Areas: Mathematical physics [PHU], Particle & high-energy physics [PHP]