String Theory

by Joseph Polchinski

• ISBN13: 9780521633031
• ISBN10: 0521633036
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-10-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

String Theory comprises two volumes which give a comprehensive and pedagogic account of the subject. Volume 1 provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string. The first four chapters introduce the central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory and of the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. The next three chapters treat string interactions: the general formalism, and detailed treatments of the tree level and one loop amplitudes. Chapter eight covers toroidal compactification and many important aspects of string physics, such as T-duality and D-branes. Chapter nine treats higher-order amplitudes, including an analysis of their finiteness and unitarity, and various nonperturbative ideas. An appendix giving a short course on path integral methods is included. This is an essential text and reference for graduate students and researchers interested in modern superstring theory.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Preface	xv
Notation	xviii
A first look at strings	1	(31)
Why strings?	1	(8)
Action principles	9	(7)
The open string spectrum	16	(9)
Closed and unoriented strings	25	(7)
Exercises	30	(2)
Conformal field theory	32	(45)
Massless scalars in two dimensions	32	(4)
The operator product expansion	36	(5)
Ward identities and Noether's theorem	41	(2)
Conformal invariance	43	(6)
Free CFTs	49	(3)
The Virasoro algebra	52	(6)
Mode expansions	58	(5)
Vertex operators	63	(5)
More on states and operators	68	(9)
Exercises	74	(3)
The Polyakov path integral	77	(44)
Sums over world-sheets	77	(5)
The Polyakov path integral	82	(2)
Gauge fixing	84	(6)
The Weyl anomaly	90	(7)
Scattering amplitudes	97	(4)
Vertex operators	101	(7)
Strings in curved spacetime	108	(13)
Exercises	118	(3)
The string spectrum	121	(24)
Old covariant quantization	121	(5)
BRST quantization	126	(5)
BRST quantization of the string	131	(6)
The no-ghost theorem	137	(8)
Exercises	143	(2)
The string S-matrix	145	(21)
The circle and the torus	145	(5)
Moduli and Riemann surfaces	150	(4)
The measure for moduli	154	(5)
More about the measure	159	(7)
Exercises	164	(2)
Tree-level amplitudes	166	(40)
Riemann surfaces	166	(3)
Scalar expectation values	169	(7)
The bc CFT	176	(2)
The Veneziano amplitude	178	(6)
Chan-Paton factors and gauge interactions	184	(8)
Closed string tree amplitudes	192	(6)
General results	198	(8)
Exercises	204	(2)
One-loop amplitudes	206	(25)
Riemann surfaces	206	(2)
CFT on the torus	208	(8)
The torus amplitude	216	(6)
Open and unoriented one-loop graphs	222	(9)
Exercises	229	(2)
Toroidal compactification and T-daulity	231	(52)
Toroidal compactification in field theory	231	(4)
Toroidal compactification in CFT	235	(6)
Closed strings and T-duality	241	(8)
Compactification of several dimensions	249	(7)
Orbifolds	256	(7)
Open strings	263	(5)
D-branes	268	(9)
T-duality of unoriented theories	277	(6)
Exercises	280	(3)
Higher order amplitudes	283	(46)
General tree-level amplitudes	283	(7)
Higher genus Riemann surfaces	290	(4)
Sewing and cutting world-sheets	294	(6)
Sewing and cutting CFTs	300	(5)
General amplitudes	305	(5)
String field theory	310	(5)
Large order behavior	315	(2)
High energy and high temperature	317	(6)
Low dimensions and noncritical strings	323	(6)
Exercises	327	(2)
Appendix A: A short course on path integrals	329	(18)
A.1 Bosonic fields	329	(12)
A.2 Fermionic fields	341	(6)
Exercises	345	(2)
References	347	(12)
Glossary	359	(30)
Index	389