Strings, Branes and Dualities

ISBN-13: 9789401059893 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 493 str.

L. Baulieu;Philippe Di Francesco; Michael Douglas

Opis

As recent developments have shown, supersymmetric quantum field theory and string theory are intimately related, with advances in one area often shedding light on the other. The organising ideas of most of these advances are the notion of duality and the physics of higher dimensional objects or p-branes.
The topics covered in the present volume include duality in field theory, in particular in supersymmetric field theory and supergravity, and in string theory. The Seiberg-Witten theory and its recent developments are also covered in detail. A large fraction of the volume is devoted to the current state of the art in M-theory, in particular its underlying superalgebra as well as its connection with superstring and N = 2 strings. The physics of D-branes and its essential role in the beautiful computation of the black hole entropy is also carefully covered. Finally, the last two sets of lectures are devoted to the exciting matrix approach to non-perturbative string theory.

Spis treści

Preface. I: Lectures. Exact Electromagnetic Duality. Introductory Lectures; D.I. Olive. Supersymmetry and Dualities in Various Dimensions; B. de Wit, J. Louis. Seiberg-Witten Theory and S-Duality; T. Eguchi. Dualities in the Classical Supergravity Limits. Dualisations, Dualities and a Détour via 4K+2 Dimensions; B.L. Julia. M-Theory From Its Superalgebra; P.K. Townsend. Lectures on Heterotic-Type I Duality; I. Antoniadis, et al. Connections between M-Theory and Superstrings; M.B. Green. Black Holes and D-Branes; J.M. Maldacena. M-Theory and N=2 Strings; E. Martinec. Branes Within Branes; M.R. Douglas. Review of Matrix Theory; D. Bigatti, L. Susskind. Notes on Matrix and Micro Strings; R. Dijkgraaf, et al. II: Seminars. Testing Seiberg-Witten Solution; A. Losev, et al. Mirrors and Phases of N=4 in D=3: Zheng Yin. Intersection Rules and Open Branes; R. Argurio. How to Count the States of Extremal Black Holes in N=8 Supergravity; V. Balasubramanian. Aspects of D-Instantons; M. Gutperle. Some Classical Solutions of Membrane Matrix Model Equations; J. Hoppe. III: Gong Show. D-Brane Actions, Intrinsic Geometry and Duality; M.A. Zeid. Branes and Chiral Symmetry; J.H. Brodie. Regularisation of Classical Self Interaction in Strings; B. Carter. D-Brane Bound States; M.S. Costa. Special Kähler Geometry. Does There Exist a Propotential? B. Craps, et al. Compactification of M-Theory and SUSY Breaking; C. Grojean. Threebranes in Twelve Dimensions; S.F. Hewson. String Solitons and Dimensional Reduction; G. Schröder. BPS Saturated Amplitudes and Non-Perturbative String Theory; P.Vanhove. On Domain Wall in MQCD; A. Volovich. Appendix: Kids Walking on a D-Brane; N. Ilieva-Douglas. List of Speakers. List of Participants. Index.