A Primer on String Theory

Since its conception in the 1960s, string theory has been hailed as one of the most promising routes we have to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity. This book provides a concise introduction to string theory explaining central concepts, mathematical tools and covering recent developments in physics including compactifications and gauge/string dualities. With string theory being a multidisciplinary field interfacing with high energy physics, mathematics and quantum field theory, this book is ideal for both students with no previous knowledge of the field and scholars from other disciplines who are looking for an introduction to basic concepts.

Preface; 1. Historical introduction and overview; Part I. Strings in Flat Backgrounds: 2. The classical closed bosonic string; 3. Free bosonic quantum field theory; 4. Covariant quantization; 5. Light-cone quantization; 6. Branes and quantization of open strings; 7. Open strings and gauge theory; 8. Free fermionic quantum field theory; 9. Supersymmetry in ten dimensions; 10. Construction of type IIA/B superstrings; 11. Branes in type II superstring theory; 12. Construction of heterotic superstrings; Part II. Strings in Curved Backgrounds: 13. Introduction to conformal field theory; 14. Modular invariants and orbifolds; 15. Closed strings on the 3-sphere; 16. Calabi-Yau spaces; 17. Calabi–Yau compactifications; 18. String dualities; 19. Gauge/string dualities; 20. AdS/CFT correspondence; Bibliography; Index.

Volker Schomerus holds a joint position as a Senior Researcher in the DESY Theory Group, and a Professor of Mathematical Physics at Universität Hamburg. His work focuses on string theory at the interface to high energy physics, mathematics and statistical physics, for which he has received several distinctions, including the Guy-Lussac–Humboldt award in 2010. He is also co-author of the monograph Boundary Conformal Field Theory and the World-Sheet Approach to D-Branes (Cambridge, 2013).