Instructor: Paul Aspinwall
The aim of this course is to describe the fundamental ideas behind
string theory. In particular, the critical dimension of 26 will be
derived for the bosonic string. The necessary ideas from classical and
quantum mechanics will be included. Other key topics to be covered are
symmetries, Lie groups and cohomology. This course
will also cover supersymmetry and superstrings, whose critical
dimension is 10. It is not necessary to have taken a course on quantum
mechanics as this course should be self-contained. A good
understanding of linear algebra, for example, MATH 221, and
multivariable calculus is absolutely essential.
Department of Mathematics