Project IV 2024-25

D-Branes

Andreas Braun

Description

The discovery of D-branes in the was a key ingredient in the second superstring revolution and has led to many new ideas and perspectives in theoretical physics and mathematics, this wikipedia article gives a rough overview.

In this project, we'll look at some basics of string theory, introduce D-branes and explore some of their basic properties, such as

  • Why D-branes give rise to gauge theories
  • How to describe the dynamics of D-branes from various perspectives
  • What D-branes have to do with black holes
Besides giving a stringy picture of gauge theories, quantum field theories and general relativity, this project will also deepen your understanding of these non-stringy topics.

There is a near endless list of interesting and more advanced topics, some with more mathematical and some with more physical flavor, you can pursue after we have covered the basics. Examples are

  • String dualities and M-theory
  • D-branes, bundles, and topological solitions
  • D-branes as sheaves and algebraic geometry
  • Black hole entropy
  • D-branes and String Phenomenology
  • The AdS/CFT correspondence

Pre and Co-requisites

    MATH2071 Mathematical Physics II

    MATH3471 Geometry of Mathematical Physics III

    MATH4271: Superstrings IV

    (or comparable courses in physics)

    If you have not taken/are not taking these courses but are interested in this project, send me an email and we can see if we can tweak the project to suit your background.

Reading material

  • Barton Zwiebach,'A first course in string theory', CRC Press (1995)
  • Clifford V. Johnson, 'D-branes', Cambridge University Press (2009) (see also here)
  • J.Polchinski, 'TASI Lectures on D-Branes' (1997)

email: Andreas Braun