Commutative Algebra & Geometric Group Theory for String Theory

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pivoxa15
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How useful is it to study commutative algebra for the understanding and development of string theory?

What about geometric group theory? Which is more useful for string theory and why?
 
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pivoxa15 said:
How useful is it to study commutative algebra for the understanding and development of string theory?

What about geometric group theory? Which is more useful for string theory and why?

There’s nothing about either of these fields of mathematics that distinguishes themselves from the rest of the mathematics that is needed either to master the basics of string theory as it’s currently presented in introductory treatments or to understand research papers. If you understand General Relativity, QFT and particle physics at the first year graduate level, than you know enough mathematics (and physics) to get through the most sophisticated texts on string theory.

However, the deeper one goes into string theory, the more mathematics one needs, which shouldn’t be surprising since string theory is a major force driving research in pure mathematics.
 
josh1 said:
There’s nothing about either of these fields of mathematics that distinguishes themselves from the rest of the mathematics that is needed either to master the basics of string theory as it’s currently presented in introductory treatments or to understand research papers. If you understand General Relativity, QFT and particle physics at the first year graduate level, than you know enough mathematics (and physics) to get through the most sophisticated texts on string theory.

texts written by physicists?

What about texts written by mathematicians? I suppose the title would be more along the lines of the mathematics of string theory.
 
pivoxa15 said:
texts written by physicists?

Yes.

pivoxa15 said:
What about texts written by mathematicians? I suppose the title would be more along the lines of the mathematics of string theory.

These are probably not what you're after, but try

https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Fields-Strings-Course-Mathematicians/dp/0821820125/ref=sr_1_1/102-3192365-1176169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192531089&sr=1-1

and

https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Symmetry-Clay-Mathematics-Monographs/dp/0821829556/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3192365-1176169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192531306&sr=1-1