Bosonic strings

String Theory (Fall, 2010)

Lecture Playlist

  1. The historical origins of string theory

  2. Mathematics of string motion

  3. The energy spectrum of strings

  4. Closed strings and the level matching rule

  5. Bosonic strings

  6. Strings with spin

  7. Fermionic strings and path integrals

  8. Conformal mapping and string scattering

  9. Strings in compact dimensions

  10. T-duality, D-branes and modeling field theories

  11. String theory wrapup

October 18, 2010

 

Professor Susskind examines the ground state of bosonic strings more closely, returning to the tachyon problem from lecture 3.  The resolution of this problem ends up requiring the introduction of additional dimensions in which the string can vibrate or stretch.  Curiously, the number of extra dimensions needed is 22.

Topics: 
  • Planck units
  • The ground state of a string
  • The requirement for 26 dimensions