Classical string theory is concerned with the propagation of classical one-dimensional curves, i.e. "strings," and has connections to the calculus of variations, minimal surfaces and harmonic maps. The quantization of string theory gives rise to problems in different areas, according to the method used. The representation theory of Lie, Kac-Moody and Virasoro algebras has been used for such quantization. In this book, the authors give an introduction to global analytic and probabilistic aspects of string theory, bringing together and making explicit the necessary mathematical tools....

Both mathematics and mathematical physics have many active areas of research where the interplay between geometry and quantum field theory has proved extremely fruitful. Duality, gauge field theory, geometric quantization, Seiberg-Witten theory, spectral properties and families of Dirac operators, and the geometry of loop groups offer some striking recent examples of modern topics which stand on the borderline between geometry and analysis on the one hand and quantum field theory on the other, where the physicist's and the mathematician's perspective complement each other,...

A collection of contributions from women mathematicians who met in Cambridge for a conference under the auspices of European Women in Mathematics (EWM).

Aimed at graduate students in physics and mathematics, this book provides an introduction to recent developments in several active topics at the interface between algebra, geometry, topology and quantum field theory. The first part of the book begins with an account of important results in geometric topology. It investigates the differential equation aspects of quantum cohomology, before moving on to noncommutative geometry. This is followed by a further exploration of quantum field theory and gauge theory, describing AdS/CFT correspondence, and the functional renormalization group approach...

Based on lectures held at the 7th Villa de Leyva summer school, this book presents an introduction to topics of current interest in the interface of geometry, topology and physics. It is aimed at graduate students in physics or mathematics with interests in geometric, algebraic as well as topological methods and their applications to quantum field theory. This volume contains the written notes corresponding to lectures written by experts in the field. They cover current topics of research in a way that is suitable for graduate students of mathematics or physics interested in the recent...