String Theory

This is a comprehensive 1998 account of supersymmetric strings, for graduate students and researchers.

Joseph Polchinski (Author)

9780521633031, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 October 1998

424 pages, 51 b/w illus. 103 exercises
25.3 x 17.9 x 2.8 cm, 0.86 kg

'It amply fulfils the need to inspire future string theorists on their long slog and is destined to become a classic. It is a truly exciting enterprise and one hugely served by this magnificent book.' David Bailin, The Times Higher Education Supplement

String Theory comprises two volumes which give a comprehensive and pedagogic account of the subject. Volume 1, first published in 1998, provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string. The first four chapters introduce the central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory and of the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. The next three chapters treat string interactions: the general formalism, and detailed treatments of the tree level and one loop amplitudes. Chapter eight covers toroidal compactification and many important aspects of string physics, such as T-duality and D-branes. Chapter nine treats higher-order amplitudes, including an analysis of their finiteness and unitarity, and various nonperturbative ideas. An appendix giving a short course on path integral methods is included. This is an essential text and reference for graduate students and researchers interested in modern superstring theory.

Foreword
Preface
Notation
1. A first look at strings
2. Conformal field theory
3. The Polyakov path integral
4. The string spectrum
5. The string S-matrix
6. Tree-level amplitudes
7. One-loop amplitudes
8. Toroidal compactification and T-duality
9. Higher order amplitudes
Appendix A: a short course on path integrals
References
Glossary
Index.

Subject Areas: Quantum physics [quantum mechanics & quantum field theory PHQ], Physics [PH]