The book is based on lectures given at the TASI summer school of 2010. It aims to provide advanced graduate students, postdoctorates and senior researchers with a survey of important topics in particle physics and string theory, with special emphasis on applications of methods from string theory and quantum gravity in condensed matter physics and QCD (especially heavy ion physics)./a
This primer is a collection of notes based on lectures that were originally given at IIT Madras (India) and at IFT Madrid (Spain). It is a concise and pragmatic course on applied holography focusing on the basic analytic and numerical techniques involved. The presented lectures are not intended to provide all the fundamental theoretical background, which can be found in the available literature, but they concentrate on concrete applications of AdS/CFT to hydrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics and condensed matter. The idea is to accompany the reader step by step through the various benchmark examples with a classmate attitude, providing details for the computations and open-source numerical codes in Mathematica, and sharing simple tricks and warnings collected during the author’s research experience. At the end of this path, the reader will be in possess of all the fundamental skills and tools to learn by him/herself more advanced techniques and to produce independent and novel research in the field.
How do things work? What makes up matter? How large is the universe? The answer to these questions lies in understanding physical phenomena: mechanics, electricity, magnetism, optics and many other phenomena can be explained through theories in physics. Indeed, progress in physics has been crucial for mankind’s technological progress. Theories and Theorems is an introductory handbook that gives readers a simple explanation of the laws of physics and presents these concepts in a way that stimulates people to think about the how-and-why of this physical world, in which we live.
Many open questions in Theoretical Physics pertain to strongly interacting quantum systems such as the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) produced in heavy-ion collisions or the strange-metal phase observed in many high-temperature superconductors. These systems are notoriously difficult to study using traditional methods such as perturbation theory, but the gauge/gravity duality offers a successful alternative approach, which maps strongly interacting quantum gauge theories to computationally tractable, classical gravity theories. This book begins with a pedagogical introduction to how the duality can be used to extract transport properties of quantum systems from their gravity dual. It then presents new results on hydrodynamic transport in strongly interacting quantum fluids, providing strong evidence that the Haack-Yarom identity between second-order transport coefficients holds for all fluids with a classical gravity dual and may be a universal feature of all strongly coupled quantum fluids such as the QGP. Newly derived Kubo formulae, expressing transport coefficients in terms of quantum correlators, hold independently of the duality. Lastly, the book discusses new results on magnetic impurities in strongly correlated metals, including the first dual gravity description of an inter-impurity coupling, crucial for the quantum criticality underlying the strange-metal phase.
This book addresses several aspects of the integrable structure of the AdS/CFT correspondence. In particular it presents computations made on both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence, at weak and at strong coupling. On the string theory side of the correspondence, the book focuses on the evaluation of the energy spectrum of closed string solutions moving in some deformed backgrounds that preserve integrability. On the gauge theory side, it explores various formal problems arising in the computation of two and three-point functions by means of the Algebraic Bethe Ansatz and the Quantum Inverse Scattering method. The book features numerous results on integrability in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Self-contained and pedagogical, it includes general discussions and detailed presentations on the use of integrable systems techniques and their applications.
The book is based on lectures given at the TASI summer school of 2010. It aims to provide advanced graduate students, postdoctorates and senior researchers with a survey of important topics in particle physics and string theory, with special emphasis on applications of methods from string theory and quantum gravity in condensed matter physics and QCD (especially heavy ion physics).
This book provides a comprehensive overview of developments in the field of holographic entanglement entropy. Within the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, it is shown how quantum entanglement is computed by the area of certain extremal surfaces. The general lessons one can learn from this connection are drawn out for quantum field theories, many-body physics, and quantum gravity. An overview of the necessary background material is provided together with a flavor of the exciting open questions that are currently being discussed. The book is divided into four main parts. In the first part, the concept of entanglement, and methods for computing it, in quantum field theories is reviewed. In the second part, an overview of the AdS/CFT correspondence is given and the holographic entanglement entropy prescription is explained. In the third part, the time-dependence of entanglement entropy in out-of-equilibrium systems, and applications to many body physics are explored using holographic methods. The last part focuses on the connection between entanglement and geometry. Known constraints on the holographic map, as well as, elaboration of entanglement being a fundamental building block of geometry are explained. The book is a useful resource for researchers and graduate students interested in string theory and holography, condensed matter and quantum information, as it tries to connect these different subjects linked by the common theme of quantum entanglement.
This book covers some recent advances in string theory and extra dimensions. Intended mainly for advanced graduate students in theoretical physics, it presents a rare combination of formal and phenomenological topics, based on the annual lectures given at the School of the Theoretical Advanced Study Institute (2001) — a traditional event that brings together graduate students in high energy physics for an intensive course of advanced learning. The lecturers in the School are leaders in their fields.The first lecture, by E D'Hoker and D Freedman, is a systematic introduction to the gauge-gravity correspondence, focusing in particular on correlation functions in the conformal case. The second, by L Dolan, provides an introduction to perturbative string theory, including recent advances on backgrounds involving Ramond-Ramond fluxes. The third, by S Gubser, explains some of the basic facts about special holonomy and its uses in string theory and M-theory. The fourth, by J Hewett, surveys the TeV phenomenology of theories with large extra dimensions. The fifth, by G Kane, presents the case for supersymmetry at the weak scale and some of its likely experimental consequences. The sixth, by A Liddle, surveys recent developments in cosmology, particularly with regard to recent measurements of the CMB and constraints on inflation. The seventh, by B Ovrut, presents the basic features of heterotic M-theory, including constructions that contain the Standard Model. The eighth, by K Rajagopal, explains the recent advances in understanding QCD at low temperatures and high densities in terms of color superconductivity. The ninth, by M Sher, summarizes grand unified theories and baryogenesis, including discussions of supersymmetry breaking and the Standard Model Higgs mechanism. The tenth, by M Spiropulu, describes collider physics, from a survey of current and future machines to examples of data analyses relevant to theories beyond the Standard Model. The eleventh, by M Strassler, is an introduction to supersymmetric gauge theory, focusing on Wilsonian renormalization and analogies between three- and four-dimensional theories. The twelfth, by W Taylor and B Zwiebach, introduces string field theory and discusses recent advances in understanding open string tachyon condensation. The thirteenth, by D Waldram, discusses explicit model building in heterotic M-theory, emphasizing the role of the E8 gauge fields.The written presentation of these lectures is detailed yet straightforward, and they will be of use to both students and experienced researchers in high-energy theoretical physics for years to come.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in:• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)• CC Proceedings — Engineering & Physical Sciences
