Fundamental Physics

    Chalmers University of Technology

    String theory
    Period II, autumn semester 2018. Course code FFM485/FIM480, 7.5 hp.

    News:

    Dec 20: Please book a time for oral exam via email. List of available hours:
    Mon Jan 14: 10-10.30, 10.30-11, 11-11.30, 13-13.30, 13.30-14, 14-14.30, 14.30-15
    Tue Jan 15: 13-13.30, 13.30-14, 14-14.30, 14.30-15
    Thu Jan 17: 9.30-10, 10-10.30, 10.30-11, 11-11.30, 13-13.30, 13.30-14, 14-14.30, 14.30-15
    Fri Jan 18: 9.30-10, 10-10.30, 10.30-11, 11-11.30

    Dec 12: The lecture Monday Dec 17 is moved to Wednesday Dec 19, 1-3pm.

    Dec 4: The 3rd home assignment is available below.

    Nov 21: The 2nd home assignment is available below.

    Oct 23: The home page is now reasonably updated.

    Literature:
    Barton Zwiebach, "A first course in string theory", 2nd ed., Cambridge Univ. Press 2009. ISBN-13 0-471-92567-5

    Lecturer:

    Examination is done with home assignments and an oral examination.

    Schedule from TimeEdit

    Lectures: Monday 10-12 weeks 1-7; Wednesday 10-12 weeks 4, 6 and 7; Wednesday 13-15 weeks 1 and 3; Friday 8-10 weeks 1 and 5; Friday 10-12 weeks 2 and 4.

    Plan:

    Week 1: Chapters 1-4

      Background material: Special (and general) relativity, quantum mechanics, units, extra dimensions, Maxwell theory, Lagrangian formalism, vibrations. Everything will not be lectured. Use the book and the exercises to make sure your knowledge is up to date.

      Recommended exercise problems: 2.2, 2.5, 2.6; 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11; 4.5.

    Week 2: Chapters 5-8

      Classical dynamics of relativistic point particles and strings. Coupling to background fields. Charges and conservation laws.

      Recommended exercise problems: 5.3, 5.4, 5.5; 6.2, 6.6; 7.2, 7.3, 7.5; 8.1, 8.5.

    Home assignment 1, due Friday Nov. 16.

    • Write the action for the Einstein-Maxwell system, i.e., gravity and electromagnetism, in arbitrary dimensionality. Show that the electromagnetic stress tensor is traceless only in four dimensions. What can this have to do with conformal invariance?

    • Problem 5.7 in Zwiebach. The answer doesn't look very covariant, with derivatives on the metric (and the statement "the metric is constant" is certainly coordinate-dependent). Rewrite the equations of motion in terms of the affine connection (the Christoffel symbol) to obtain the geodesic equation.

    • Problem 6.10 in Zwiebach.

      • Please hand in printed material produced by TeX/LaTeX in a box outside room O6102.

    Week 3: Chapters 9-12

      Light-cone physics: strings, particles and fields. Relativistic quantum particles and open strings.

      Recommended exercise problems: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3; 10.2, 10.3, 10.4; 11.1, 11.2, 11.5.

    Week 4: Chapters 13, 24

      Relativistic quantum closed strings. Covariant quantisation.

      Recommended exercise problems: 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5; 13.1, 13.2; 24.1.

    Home assignment 2, due Monday Dec. 3:

    • Linearise Einstein's equations in the absence of sources.

    • Problems 10.7, 11.5, 11.6, 12.6 and 24.2.

    Week 5: Chapter 14

      Relativistic superstrings.

      Recommended exercise problems: 14.1, 14.2, 14.4

    Week 6: Chapters 15-19

      T-duality. D-branes.

      Recommended exercise problems: 16.1, 16.4, 16.6, 17.1-3, 18.5, 19.1, 19.4

    Week 7: Chapters 25-26

    Home assignment 3, due Friday Jan. 4.



    Oral examination Jan. 14-18.
    (If you are leaving around Christmas, it is possible to do the oral exam earlier. It is then necessary to hand in the 3rd home assignment no later than Dec. 19, and at least 2 days before the examination.)


    Links: David Tong, "Lectures on string theory", arXiv:0908.0333