L. Baulieu - Böcker

This book is a collection of lectures given in July 2007 at the Les Houches Summer School on "String Theory and the Real World: From particle physics to astrophysics." Provides a pedagogical introduction to topics in String Theory, and Cosmology Addresses each topic from the basis to the most recent developments Covers the lectures by internationally-renowned and leading experts

The Cargese Summer School "Low Dimensional Applications of Quantum Field Theory" was held in July 1995. The School was dedicated to the memory of Claude Itzykson. This session focused on the recent progress in quantum field theory in two dimen­ sions with a particular emphasis on integrable models and applications of quantum field theory to condensed matter physics. A large fraction of the school was also devoted to a detailed review of the exciting developments in four dimensional super­ symmetric Yang-Mills theory. The diversity of the topics presented constitute, in our opinion, one of the most attractive features of these proceedings. Some contributions constitute a very thor­ ough introduction to their subject matter and should be helpful to advanced students in the field while others present entirely new research, not previously published, and should be of considerable interest to the specialist. There were in depth introductory lectures on the application of conformal field theory techniques to disordered systems, on the quantum Hall effect, on quantum in­ tegrable systems, on the thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz and on the new developments in supersymmetric gauges theories. The computation of the three point function of the Liouville model using conformal bootstrap methods was presented in detail.

As recent developments have shown, supersymmetric quantum field theory and string theory are intimately related, with advances in one area often shedding light on the other. The topics covered in the present volume include duality in field theory, in particular in supersymmetric field theory and supergravity, and in string theory. The Seiberg-Witten theory and its recent developments are also covered in detail. A large fraction of the volume is devoted to the current state of the art in M-theory, in particular its underlying superalgebra as well as its connection with superstring and N = 2 strings. The physics of D-branes and its essential role in the computation of the black hole entropy is also carefully covered. Finally, the last two sets of lectures are devoted to the matrix approach to non-perturbative string theory.

Developments in supersymmetric field theory, string theory, and brane theory have been revolutionary. The main focus of this volume is M-theory and its applications to superstring theory, quantum gravity, and the theory of elementary particles. Topics included are D-branes, boundary states, and world volume solitons. Anti-De-Sitter quantum field theory is explained, emphasizing the way it can enforce the holography principle, together with the relation to black hole physics and the way Branes provide the microscopic interpretation for the entropy of black holes. Developments in D-branes within type-I superstring and related theories are described. There are also possible phenomenological implications of superstring theory that would lie within the range of quantum gravity effects in the future generation of accelerators, around 1 TeV.

Developments in supersymmetric field theory, string theory, and brane theory have been revolutionary. The main focus of this volume is M-theory and its applications to superstring theory, quantum gravity, and the theory of elementary particles. Topics included are D-branes, boundary states, and world volume solitons. Anti-De-Sitter quantum field theory is explained, emphasizing the way it can enforce the holography principle, together with the relation to black hole physics and the way Branes provide the microscopic interpretation for the entropy of black holes. Developments in D-branes within type-I superstring and related theories are described. There are also possible phenomenological implications of superstring theory that would lie within the range of quantum gravity effects in the future generation of accelerators, around 1 TeV.

The main focus of this book is the progress in the very active areas of superstring theory, quantum gravity and the theory of elementary particles. It covers topical problems in such domains as duality between gravity and gauge interactions, string field theory, tachyon condensation, non-commutative field theory, string cosmology and string phenomenology. Some presentations give and elementary introduction to their subject, while others are geared to the specialist.

The main focus of this book is the progress in the very active areas of superstring theory, quantum gravity and the theory of elementary particles. It covers topical problems in such domains as duality between gravity and gauge interactions, string field theory, tachyon condensation, non-commutative field theory, string cosmology and string phenomenology. Some presentations give and elementary introduction to their subject, while others are geared to the specialist.

The Cargese Workshop "Quantum Field Theory and String Theory" was held from May 10 to May 21, 1993. The broad spectrum of the work presented at the Workshop was the reflec­ tion of a time of intensive search for new ways of solving some of the most fun­ damental problems in string theory, quantum gravity and non-perturbative field theory. A number of talks indicated the emergence of new promising domains of investigation. It is this very diversity of topics which, in our opinion, represents one of the most attractive features of the present volume which we hope will provide a good orientation in the abundant flow of ideas and publications in modern quantum field theory. Many contributions to the present proceedings are concerned with two di­ mensional quantum field theory. The continuous advances in the domain of two dimensional integrable theories on the lattice as well as in the continuum, including conformal field theories, Liouville field theory and matrix models of two dimensional quantum gravity are very well represented. Other papers address physically realistic (and therefore very complicated) problems like de­ veloped turbulence, the Hofstadter problem, higher dimensional gravity and phenomenological strings. A new elegant class of topological field theories is presented. New ideas in the string representation of multicolor quantum chromo dynamics were widely discussed at the Workshop, more particularly the example of the exactly solvable two dimensional case.

The Cargese Summer School "Low Dimensional Applications of Quantum Field Theory" was held in July 1995. The School was dedicated to the memory of Claude Itzykson. This session focused on the recent progress in quantum field theory in two dimen­ sions with a particular emphasis on integrable models and applications of quantum field theory to condensed matter physics. A large fraction of the school was also devoted to a detailed review of the exciting developments in four dimensional super­ symmetric Yang-Mills theory. The diversity of the topics presented constitute, in our opinion, one of the most attractive features of these proceedings. Some contributions constitute a very thor­ ough introduction to their subject matter and should be helpful to advanced students in the field while others present entirely new research, not previously published, and should be of considerable interest to the specialist. There were in depth introductory lectures on the application of conformal field theory techniques to disordered systems, on the quantum Hall effect, on quantum in­ tegrable systems, on the thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz and on the new developments in supersymmetric gauges theories. The computation of the three point function of the Liouville model using conformal bootstrap methods was presented in detail.