An special feature of the book is the treatment in depth of the theory of spinors in all dimensions and signatures, which is the basis of all developments of supergeometry both in physics and mathematics, especially in quantum field theory and supergravity."--Jacket.
A brief introductory description of the new physical and mathematical ideas involved in formulating supersymmetric theories. The basic ideas are worked out in low space dimensionalities and techniques where the formulae do not obscure the concepts.
Supersymmetry is a highly active area of considerable interest among physicists and mathematicians. It is not only fascinating in its own right, but there is also indication that it plays a fundamental role in the physics of elementary particles and gravitation. The purpose of the book is to lay down the foundations of the subject, providing the reader with a comprehensive introduction to the language and techniques, as well as detailed proofs and many clarifying examples. This book is aimed ideally at second-year graduate students. After the first three introductory chapters, the text is divided into two parts: the theory of smooth supermanifolds and Lie supergroups, including the Frobenius theorem, and the theory of algebraic superschemes and supergroups. There are three appendices. The first introduces Lie superalgebras and representations of classical Lie superalgebras, the second collects some relevant facts on categories, sheafification of functors and commutative algebra, and the third explains the notion of Frechet space in the super context.
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 is based on PDE courses given by the authors at the Courant Institute and at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Presented are basic methods for obtaining various a priori estimates for second-order equations of elliptic type with particular emphasis on maximal principles, Harnack inequalities, and their applications. The equations considered in the book are linear; however, the presented methods also apply to nonlinear problems.
This is a primer on a mathematically rigorous renormalisation group theory, presenting mathematical techniques fundamental to renormalisation group analysis such as Gaussian integration, perturbative renormalisation and the stable manifold theorem. It also provides an overview of fundamental models in statistical mechanics with critical behaviour, including the Ising and φ4 models and the self-avoiding walk. The book begins with critical behaviour and its basic discussion in statistical mechanics models, and subsequently explores perturbative and non-perturbative analysis in the renormalisation group. Lastly it discusses the relation of these topics to the self-avoiding walk and supersymmetry. Including exercises in each chapter to help readers deepen their understanding, it is a valuable resource for mathematicians and mathematical physicists wanting to learn renormalisation group theory.
This widely acclaimed introduction to N = 1 supersymmetry and supergravity is aimed at readers familiar with relativistic quantum field theory who wish to learn about the supersymmetry algebra. In this new volume Supersymmetry and Supergravity has been greatly expanded to include a detailed derivation of the most general coupling of super-symmetric gauge theory to supergravity. The final result is the starting point for phenomenological studies of supersymmetric theories. The book is distinguished by its pedagogical approach to supersymmetry. It develops several topics in advanced field theory as the need arises. It emphasizes the logical coherence of the subject and should appeal to physicists whose interests range from the mathematical to the phenomenological. In praise of the first edition: "A beautiful exposition of the original ideas of Wess and Zumino in formulating N = 1 supersymmetry and supergravity theories, couched in the language of superfields introduced by Strathdee and the reviewer.... [All] serious students of particle physics would do well to acquire a copy."--Abdus Salam, Nature "An excellent introduction to this exciting area of theoretical physics."--C. J. Isham, Physics Bulletin
This volume presents three weeks of lectures given at the Summer School on Quantum Field Theory, Supersymmetry, and Enumerative Geometry. With this volume, the Park City Mathematics Institute returns to the general topic of the first institute: the interplay between quantum field theory and mathematics.
To the 1st edition of this monograph (addressed to advanced graduate students and researchers ) the author, responding to developments within superstring theory, has added 51/2 chapters dealing with two- dimensional supersymmetry. Authoritative, as lucid as the subject matter allows (yet demanding nonetheless!), attractively produced and priced. (NW) Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
This English edition of Yuri I. Manin's well-received lecture notes provides a concise but extremely lucid exposition of the basics of algebraic geometry and sheaf theory. The lectures were originally held in Moscow in the late 1960s, and the corresponding preprints were widely circulated among Russian mathematicians. This book will be of interest to students majoring in algebraic geometry and theoretical physics (high energy physics, solid body, astrophysics) as well as to researchers and scholars in these areas. "This is an excellent introduction to the basics of Grothendieck's theory of schemes; the very best first reading about the subject that I am aware of. I would heartily recommend every grad student who wants to study algebraic geometry to read it prior to reading more advanced textbooks."- Alexander Beilinson