Algebraic Structure Of String Field Theory

This book gives a modern presentation of modular operands and their role in string field theory. The authors aim to outline the arguments from the perspective of homotopy algebras and their operadic origin. Part I reviews string field theory from the point of view of homotopy algebras, including A-infinity algebras, loop homotopy (quantum L-infinity) and IBL-infinity algebras governing its structure. Within this framework, the covariant construction of a string field theory naturally emerges as composition of two morphisms of particular odd modular operads. This part is intended primarily for researchers and graduate students who are interested in applications of higher algebraic structures to strings and quantum field theory. Part II contains a comprehensive treatment of the mathematical background on operads and homotopy algebras in a broader context, which should appeal also to mathematicians who are not familiar with string theory.

A run-away bestseller from the moment it hit the market in late 1999. This impressive, thick softcover offers mathematicians and mathematical physicists the opportunity to learn about the beautiful and difficult subjects of quantum field theory and string theory. Cover features an intriguing cartoon that will bring a smile to its intended audience.

This volume covers the most up-to-date findings on string field theory. It is presented in a new approach as a result of insights gained from the theory. This includes the use of a universal method for treating free field theories, which allows the derivation of a single, simple, free, local, Poincare-invariant, gauge-invariant action that can be applied directly to any fields.

The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare the reader for research in string theory at an intermediate level. As such it is not a compendium of results but intended as textbook in the sense that most of the material is organized in a pedagogical and self-contained fashion. Beyond the basics, a number of more advanced topics are introduced, such as conformal field theory, superstrings and string dualities - the text does not cover applications to black hole physics and cosmology, nor strings theory at finite temperatures. End-of-chapter references have been added to guide the reader wishing to pursue further studies or to start research in well-defined topics covered by this book.

This book contains exclusively invited contributions from collaborators of Maximilian Kreuzer, giving accounts of his scientific legacy and original articles from renowned theoretical physicists and mathematicians, including Victor Batyrev, Philip Candelas, Michael Douglas, Alexei Morozov, Joseph Polchinski, Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, and Peter West. Besides a collection of review and research articles from high-profile researchers in string theory and related fields of mathematics (in particular, algebraic geometry) which discuss recent progress in the exploration of string theory vacua and corresponding mathematical developments, this book contains a pedagogical account of the important work of Brandt, Dragon, and Kreuzer on classification of anomalies in gauge theories. This highly cited work, which is also quoted in the textbook of Steven Weinberg on quantum field theory, has not yet been presented in full detail except in private lecture notes by Norbert Dragon. Similarly, the software package PALP (Package for Analyzing Lattice Polytopes with applications to toric geometry), which has been incorporated in the SAGE (Software for Algebra and Geometry Experimentation) project, has not yet been documented in full detail. This book contains a user manual for a new thoroughly revised version of PALP. By including these two very useful original contributions, researchers in quantum field theory, string theory, and mathematics will find added value in a pedagogical presentation of the classification of quantum gauge field anomalies, and the accompanying comprehensive manual and tutorial for the powerful software package PALP.

The symposium held in honour of the 60th birthday of Graeme Segal brought together leading physicists and mathematicians. Its topics were centred around string theory, M-theory, and quantum gravity on the one hand, and K-theory, elliptic cohomology, quantum cohomology and string topology on the other. Geometry and quantum physics developed in parallel since the recognition of the central role of non-abelian gauge theory in elementary particle physics in the late seventies and the emerging study of super-symmetry and string theory. With its selection of survey and research articles these proceedings fulfil the dual role of reporting on developments in the field and defining directions for future research. For the first time Graeme Segal's manuscript 'The definition of Conformal Field Theory' is published, which has been greatly influential over more than ten years. An introduction by the author puts it into the present context.

Operads are mathematical devices which describe algebraic structures of many varieties and in various categories. From their beginnings in the 1960s, they have developed to encompass such areas as combinatorics, knot theory, moduli spaces, string field theory and deformation quantization.