- #1
Bancrates
- 2
- 5
- TL;DR
- Already have prerequisites under my belt (QFT, GR and Differential geometry). Want to learn string theory in a coherent, logical way.
I've completed my PhD and am leaving the field to take up a career elsewhere, however I'm interested in developing my knowledge of string theory as a (potentially lifelong) side project. I have a solid understanding of GR and some extensions (my PhD was in relativistic effects in cosmology, and some modified gravity), a decent background in QFT & renormalisation (took multiple MSc level courses, done some study of QCD) although it was a while ago now, familiarity with differential geometry and the formulation of Yang-Mills/Einstein-Cartan gravity using forms, and Lie groups/algebras and their representations.
I took courses in SUSY and String theory on my masters, but they were unsatisfactory - the SUSY course was poorly lectured/structured, and whilst I remember bits and bobs, I don't feel confident with the subject.
The string theory course turned out not to be a string theory course at all. The professor who was teaching it had a philosophy which was "there's no point in teaching you string theory, since it won't be useful to you at this stage and if you want to actually do research in theoretical physics you can learn it yourself, so instead, I will deliver a workshop on various different bits of theoretical physics that might actually help you in your research careers".
It was actually a great course, I ended up learning a lot of representation theory and some stuff about generalised E&M on branes, however I left it feeling I still had no idea what string theory was actually all about.
I'm aware of the main textbooks in these subjects - but where would you recommend starting? I've had a look at Green, Schwarz & Witten, but it seems very wordy and not too accessible. Zwiebach on the otherhand seems a bit slow going.
Is there a particularly good lecture series/notes to start with, or a textbook that you'd strongly recommend? I've heard people say that Polchinski is the place to start...
I took courses in SUSY and String theory on my masters, but they were unsatisfactory - the SUSY course was poorly lectured/structured, and whilst I remember bits and bobs, I don't feel confident with the subject.
The string theory course turned out not to be a string theory course at all. The professor who was teaching it had a philosophy which was "there's no point in teaching you string theory, since it won't be useful to you at this stage and if you want to actually do research in theoretical physics you can learn it yourself, so instead, I will deliver a workshop on various different bits of theoretical physics that might actually help you in your research careers".
It was actually a great course, I ended up learning a lot of representation theory and some stuff about generalised E&M on branes, however I left it feeling I still had no idea what string theory was actually all about.
I'm aware of the main textbooks in these subjects - but where would you recommend starting? I've had a look at Green, Schwarz & Witten, but it seems very wordy and not too accessible. Zwiebach on the otherhand seems a bit slow going.
Is there a particularly good lecture series/notes to start with, or a textbook that you'd strongly recommend? I've heard people say that Polchinski is the place to start...