This string theory course focuses on holographic duality (also known as gauge / gravity duality or AdS / CFT) as a novel method of approaching and connecting a range of diverse subjects, including quantum gravity / black holes, QCD at extreme conditions, exotic condensed matter systems, and quantum information.
Overview
Syllabus
1. Emergence of Gravity.
2. Classical Black Hole Geometry.
3. Causal Structure of a Black Hole and Black Hole Temperature.
4. Physical Interpretation of Black Hole Temperature.
5. Black Hole Thermodynamics.
6. Holographic Principle.
7. Structure of Large N Expansion.
8. Large N Expansion as a String Theory, Part I.
9. Large N Expansion as a String Theory, Part II.
10. Basics of String Theory and Light-cone Gauge.
11. String Theory in the Light-cone Gauge.
12. String Spectrum and Graviton.
13. Physics of D-branes, Part I.
14. Physics of D-branes, Part II.
15. Physics of D-branes, Part III.
16. Geometry of D-branes and AdS / CFT Conjecture.
17. More on AdS / CFT Duality.
18. General Aspects of the Duality.
19. Mass-dimension Relation.
20. Euclidean Correlation Functions: Two-point Functions.
21. Euclidean Correlation Functions: Higher-point Functions.
22. Computation of the Wilson Loop.
23. Duality at a Finite Temperature and Finite Chemical Potential.
24. Holographic Entanglement Entropy.
Taught by
Prof. Hong Liu
