Introduction to String Theory

Syllabus

• Special relativity: A reminder
• A spacetime with extra compact dimension
• Special relativity and Electromagnetism in a spacetime with extra compact dimensions
• Gravitation in a spacetime with extra compact dimensions, and the Planck scale
• The relativistic point particle: The action and its invariants
• The Nambu-Goto action for the classical relativistic string
• The equations of motion and boundary conditions for the classical relativistic string
• The solutions of the equations of motion of the classical relativistic string
• Charge conservation on the world-sheet
• The world-sheet energy-momentum tensor
• Lorentz invariance of the string.
• The light-cone gauge
• The scalar and vector fields in the light-cone gauge
• The quantum open string as a collection of harmonic oscillators
• The Virasoro operators
• The construction space of states of the open string
• The Virasoro operators for the closed string
• The construction space of states of the closed string
• Optional: Dbranes and boundary conditions 20. Open strings and Dbranes
• Optional: The charges of open strings and Dbranes
• Optional: The wrapped closed string
• Optional: T-duality