Readings | String Theory | Physics

Course readings.
SES #	TOPICS	READING REFERENCES
1	What you need to know about string theory
2	D3-branes at small and large coupling	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 1.1.
3	AdS/CFT from scratch, no strings	Gauge/Gravity Duality
4	What holds up the throat?	Physics of String Flux Compactifications
5	How to defend yourself from a supersymmetric field theory	Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and the AdS/CFT Correspondence, sections 2-4.
6	About the N = 4 SYM theory	Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and the AdS/CFT Correspondence, section 3.
7	Big picture of correspondence; strings and strong interactions	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 3.1.2. TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, sections 2 and 3.0.
8	't Hooft counting	Coleman's `1/N' paper (PDF - 1.3 MB)^# Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 1.2. TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 2.
9	Scale and conformal invariance in field theory	Applied Conformal Field Theory Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 2.1. Introduction to Conformal Invariance
10	CFT in D > 2 (cont.)	Same readings as previous lecture
11	Geometry of AdS	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 2.2. Kiritsis, Elias. String Theory in a Nutshell. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007, appendix K. ISBN: 9780691122304. TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 2.
12	Geometry of AdS (cont.); Poincaré patch; wave equation in AdS	Introduction to the Maldacena Conjecture on AdS/CFT, section 2. TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 3.
13	Masses of fields and dimensions of operators; BF-allowed tachyons	TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 4. Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 3.3.
14	How to compute two-point correlators of scalar operators	TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 4. Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 3.3. Gauge Theory Correlators from Non-Critical String Theory Anti De Sitter Space And Holography, sections 2.4 and 2.5.
15	Preview of real-time issues; two-point functions in momentum space (cont.); more on low-mass² fields in AdS	Same readings as previous lecture AdS/CFT Correspondence and Symmetry Breaking
16	Three-point functions, anomalies; expectation values	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, sections 3.2.2 and 3.3.2. Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and the AdS/CFT Correspondence, sections x8.4 and 8.5. Correlation Functions in the CFT(d)/AdS(d+1) Correspondence Anti De Sitter Space And Holography, sections 2.4 and 2.5. AdS/CFT Correspondence and Symmetry Breaking, p. 9.
17	Wilson loops	Kiritsis, Elias. String Theory in a Nutshell. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007, section 13.9. ISBN: 9780691122304. Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 3.5.
18	Wilson loops (cont.)	Same readings as previous lecture Wilson Loops and Minimal Surfaces The Operator Product Expansion for Wilson Loops and Surfaces in the Large N Limit
19	Pointlike probes of the bulk; Baryons and branes in AdS; 'Non-spherical horizons'	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, sections 3.5.2, 4.1, and 4.2. Conformal Anomaly Of Submanifold Observables In AdS/CFT Correspondence The Black Hole Singularity in AdS/CFT Invasion of the Giant Gravitons from Anti-de Sitter Space
20	Brief survey of other examples of the correspondence (M2, M5, D1-D5, Dp, branes at singularities); a model of confinement	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, sections 4.1, 6.1, and 6.2. Supergravity and The Large N Limit of Theories With Sixteen Supercharges TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 6.
21	Confinement (cont.): how to measure the spectrum, proof of mass gap	Anti-de Sitter Space, Thermal Phase Transition, And Confinement In Gauge Theories Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 6.2. TASI Lectures on AdS/CFT, section 6.
22	Black hole mechanics, classical and quantum	Introductory Lectures on Black Hole Thermodynamics, sections 2 and 3 (PS). Black Holes, chapter 6.
23	AdS black holes and thermal gauge theory; equation of state, free energy and stress tensor	No references
24	Hawking effect for interacting field theories and BH thermodynamics	Introductory Lectures on Black Hole Thermodynamics, section 3 (PS). Susskind, Leonard, and James Lindesay. An Introduction to Black Holes, Information, and the String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universe. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific, 2004, chapter 3. ISBN: 9789812560834.
25	AdS black holes and thermal gauge theory: Polyakov-Susskind loop, screening, quasinormal modes, Hawking-page transition	Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity, section 3.6. Anti-de Sitter Space, Thermal Phase Transition, And Confinement In Gauge Theories