Physics 230B - Quantum Field Theory II,
with Emphasis on Dualities
 Basic Info
Time: Tue and Thu, 11:10am-12:30pm (lectures), Fri 3:10-4pm
(discussions).
Place: All lectures and discussions take place in 402 Le Conte Hall
(i.e., not in the originally announced 385 Le Conte).
Due to the conflict with the Department picnic, the
discussion originally scheduled for Fri, Sept 29 has been moved to Thu,
Oct 5, 6pm (402 Le Conte).
Instructor:
Petr Hořava
(email: horava@berkeley.edu)
Offices - campus: 401 Le Conte Hall; LBNL: 50A-5107.
The list of papers
available for reading assignments (to be presented by students in the
discussion sessions) has finally been posted. Up to two students will be
assigned per discussion session, on a first-come/first-serve basis. Please
make your selections before September 28, and let me know by email. Your
selection will not be official until confirmed by me.
A somewhat detailed
list of topics covered in individual lectures, together
with a list of useful references and other remarks, is
here. Updates
will continue to appear during the course of the semester.
This course is designed as a logical continuation of the material covered in
230A, with emphasis
on nonperturbative aspects of quantum field theory, in particular, various
duality symmetries. A preliminary syllabus can be found
here.
The prerequisites for the course are: Quantum field theory at the level of
230A (or
equivalent). In addition, it would be useful to have some
rudimentary knowledge of basics of string theory, for example at the level
of the first volume of
M.B. Green, J.H. Schwarz and E. Witten, Superstring Theory I & II
(Cambridge U.P., 1987).
No prior knowledge of dualities in field or string theory is assumed.
The material of this course is not covered by any single textbook, and we will
have to rely on a combination of various review articles, lecture notes from
Summer schools, and original research papers. Useful references will be
posted on this website in due time.
Homework
Assignments
will not be given in this course. Instead, a
menu of reading
assignments
(covering additional material not discussed explicitly in lectures) has
been offered on this website. Each student will choose one paper
from the list, and then present their content coherently in one of the
discussion sessions. Such student presentations (hopefully with some
follow-up discussion) will be the main content of all the discussion
sessions.
horava@berkeley.edu
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