Practical details about the course can be found in this note.
| Week | Section | Contents, roughly | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ob | Why string theory? Lightning review of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. | ||
| 2 | 2 | Classical point particle. Classical string. Nambu-Goto and Polyakov actions. Symmetries | ||
| 3 | 3 | Quantization, canonically. Ordering. | ||
| 4 | 3 | Quantization continued. Lightcone gauge. Physical states. | ||
| 5 | 3 | Path integral quantization. Ghosts. Anomaly cancellation in critical dimension | ||
| 6 | 4 | Intro to CFT | ||
| 7 | 4 | More CFT, Operators vs states, OPE's | ||
| 8 | 4 | String theory as a CFT. Vertex operators | ||
| 9 | 5 | BRST quantization. Vertex operators of physical states | ||
| 10 | 16.1 - 16.3 (bosonic string only!) | Scattering amplitudes. Closed and open. Chan Patton factors. Field theory limit | ||
| 11 | 7, 8.1 - 8.3, 8.5 | Superstring theory. Definition, spectrum in lightcone gauge, GSO projection. Supersymmetry in target space | ||
| 12 | 4.3, 4.4. 6.5 | Boundary states in bosonic string. Forces between branes | ||
| 13 | 9.2, 9.3 10.1, 10.2 | Superstrings. D-branes as stable objects, "mass=charge". Toroidal compactification, T-duality |
