Mathematics of string theory?

pivoxa15

How is this field looking?

What topics does it have?

Who are the experts in this field?

ehrenfest

Barton Zwiebach at MIT

I am just learning the basics, but from what I can tell ST is thriving and it remains the best solution to the GR-QM inconsistencies.

Check out Zwiebach's A First Course in String Theory if you want the details.

pivoxa15

I assume the mathematics of string theory is different to string theory?

For one thing they are done be different communities of people so there's got to be some difference?

pivoxa15

I assume the mathematics of string theory is different to string theory?

For one thing they are done by different communities of people so there's got to be some difference?

cristo

I've never heard this, but then I don't know what you mean by the mathematics of string theory. I'd be very suprised if a string theorist did not use the "mathematics of string theory" though.

JasonJo

Algebraic geometry, mirror symmetry, Calabi-Yau manifolds, generalized geometry, BRST, super-"mathematics" - i.e. mathematics with the anticommutative property

Experts, tons of them. In the math field: Sergei Gukov, Edward Witten (cmon you gotta count him), Ron Donagi, David Morrison, etc, etc.

pivoxa15

Pursuing string theory only as a maths theory.

If that dosen't make sense then it would be doing maths that was motivated by string theory.

pivoxa15

Would Ed Witten be in the physics field?

cristo

But most people working in quantum gravity are mathematicians. It, again, comes down to where you draw this line between theoretical physics and maths-- I don't think one needs to draw the line.

timur

I think there is a difference between mathematical physics and theoretical physics. Witten is for sure not theoretical physicist, if anything, he is a mathematical physicist.

animalcroc

Ed Witten does physics. Ed Witten does theory. Thus, he's a theorist.
All physicists use math.

TMFKAN64

I could be wrong here, but I don't think there are any string theory experimentalists. They're all pretty much theoreticians.

JasonJo

He is a very special case; can you name any physicist that wrote a paper on Geometric Langlands conjecture?

pivoxa15

Actually, he is a Fields medalist but no Nobel prize:) so we should put him in the maths camp. Imagine if string theory was connected to nature in a deep way then he would also line up for the nobel prize?

Although what kind of journals does he publish in? Are they more maths or physics journals?

pivoxa15

In this site http://superstringtheory.com/math/math2.html there is no mention of integrable models but string theory is an integrable model?

pivoxa15

How much representation theory is in string theory?