String theory wrapup

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

January 10, 2011

Professor Susskind starts with the philosophy of reductionism, where complex objects are broken down in to larger numbers of smaller objects with more fundamental rules of behavior.   While this philosophy has served physics well,  Professor Susskind argues that modern theories spell the end of reductionism.   What is fundamental depends on the situation or energy scale, or whatever is most “useful” for predicting behavior.   This change extends to string theory, which contains dualities between strings and D1-branes.

(Note: this final lecture of String Theory was delivered in Winter, 2011 as the first lecture of Cosmology and Black Holes.  The lecture only appears here in this course.)

Topics: 
  • The end of reductionism
  • Geometric gymnastics with strings and D-branes