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.
- 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
- 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
Mode of operation and evidence of learning
The group will operate through regular meetings, reading allocation, exercises, and collaborative discussion of key concepts. The project will revolve around learning through reading with focus on the underlying theory, mathematical rigour, development of conceptual understanding and applications to theoretical physics. Students will demonstrate their understanding by solving relevant problems, exploring examples and theoretical applications of the material, and clearly communicating it in both written and oral formats.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)