A First Course in String Theory - (Barton Zwiebach) Cambridge University Press 2009.pdf

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A First Course in String Theory
Second Edition
Barton Zwiebach is once again faithful to his goal of making string theory accessible to
undergraduates. He presents the main concepts of string theory in a concrete and physical
way to develop intuition before formalism, often through simplified and illustrative exam-
ples. Complete and thorough in its coverage, this new edition now includes the AdS/CFT
correspondence and introduces superstrings. It is perfectly suited to introductory courses
in string theory for students with a background in mathematics and physics.
This new edition pletely new chapters on the AdS/CFT correspondence,
an introduction to superstrings, and new sections covering strings on orbifolds, cos-
mic strings, moduli stabilization, and the string theory landscape. There are almost 300
problems and exercises, with password protected solutions available to instructors at
ebach.
Barton Zwiebach is Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His central contributions have been in the area of string field theory, where he did the
early work on the construction of the field theory of open strings and then developed the
field theory of closed strings. He has also made important contributions to the subjects of
D-branes with exceptional symmetry and tachyon condensation.
From the first edition
‘A refreshingly different approach to string theory that requires remarkably little previous
knowledge of quantum theory or relativity. This highlights fundamental features of the the-
ory that make it so radically different from theories based on point-like particles. This book
makes the subject amenable to undergraduates but it will also appeal greatly to beginning
researchers who may be overwhelmed by the standard textbooks.’
Professor Michael Green, University of Cambridge
‘Barton Zwiebach has written a careful and thorough introduction to string theory that is
suitable for a full