String Theory and M-Theory: A Modern Introduction

Book Description

String theory is one of the most exciting and challenging areas of modern theoretical physics. This book guides the reader from the basics of string theory to recent developments. It introduces the basics of perturbative string theory, world-sheet supersymmetry, space-time supersymmetry, conformal field theory and the heterotic string, before describing modern developments, including D-branes, string dualities and M-theory. It then covers string geometry and flux compactifications, applications to cosmology and particle physics, black holes in string theory and M-theory, and the microscopic origin of black-hole entropy. It concludes with Matrix theory, the AdS/CFT duality and its generalizations. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in modern string theory, and will make an excellent textbook for a one-year course on string theory. It contains over 120 exercises with solutions, and over 200 homework problems with solutions available on a password protected website for lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521860697.

Customer Reviews:

A good general introduction.......2007-04-22

String theory has been criticized since it was first invented but not to the degree that it has now, this criticism mostly focusing on its failure to connect with observation. The criticism has increased dramatically in recent years however, and some of this has been too vituperative to be useful to those curious about string theory as a viable physical theory. But criticism, however harsh, can be healthy, since it motivates the proponents of a theory to more carefully elucidate its foundations and content. This is usually not the case when a theory is popular, as researchers are in a competitive spirit and are hesitant to share the knowledge to possible competitors. At this stage in the game however, string theorists it seems are now on the defensive, and have thus taken the time to discuss in-depth what this reviewer still believes is the most complex and beautiful theory ever constructed in mathematical physics. String theory still has a long way to go before it gains status as being a physical theory, but hopefully by the end of the next few decades one will see the appearance of charts, graphs, and numerical calculations in books on string theory, much like one finds in the most successful of all physical theories to date: relativistic quantum field theory.
Some highlights in the book that are particularly insightful include:
1. The observation that Dirichlet boundary conditions (for the open string) break Poincare invariance, but that this leads to the introduction of Dp-branes as positions of the endpoints of the open string. Poincare invariance is recovered as long as Dp-brane is space filling, i.e. has a dimension one less than the background spacetime.
2. The view that the BRST quantization of the path integral is really a conformal field theory. This is interesting in that BRST analysis is typically thought of as a procedure for quantizing constrained systems (gauge theories being predominant examples).
3. The `Myers effect'. Sometimes referred to as the `D-brane dielectric effect', it is part of an attempt to understand the physics of non-Abelian D-branes for strong fields. One of the challenges in this understanding involves the validity of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action in these kinds of circumstances, which as the authors remark is designed for situations where the background fields and world-volume gauge fields do not vary appreciably over the distances on the order of the string scale.
4. The origin of the (classical) Virasoro algebra as the freedom of choice of gauge in the reparametrization symmetry. And along these same lines, the quantization of the Virasoro algebra is defined to the normal ordering of the Virasoro generators, and their commutators give an expression consisting of the ordinary classical term plus a "quantum" correction, the famous central extension. Thus the quantum Virasoro algebra can be viewed as a "quantum deformation" of the classical Virasoro algebra, with the central parameter as being the deformation parameter. This philosophy of deformation has found generalization in what are now called `quantum groups' (even though strictly speaking they are much more complicated objects than ordinary groups).
5. The connection of the dilaton to the Euler characteristic.
6. The role of the GSO projection in insuring consistency in the state spectrum.
7. The use of (vector bundle) K-theory to classify D-brane charges. This use arises when it is realized that the conserved R-R charges cannot be identified with cohomology classes of gauge field configurations. Instead, the D-branes are classified by K-theory classes.
8. The discussion on `primitive cohomology' and its relation to de Rham cohomology and Hodge theory.
9. The role of the Born-Infeld structure in ensuring Lorentz invariance of the T-dual description. The Born-Infeld action was once viewed as a mere historical curiosity, namely as a nonlinear generalization of the Maxwell theory, with no experimental backing. That it finds such a natural place in string theory is very interesting (but still of course lacking in experimental support).
10. The derivation of a lower bound for Newton's constant from heterotic M-theory, which is close to the observed value.
11. The argument, beautifully elucidated in this book, that type IIA supergravity may be obtained from 11-dimensional supergravity by dimensional reduction.
12. The discussion on warped space-times and the gauge hierarchy. The authors cleverly motivate this subject by asking why Newtonian gravity follows an inverse-square law rather than an inverse-cube law.
13. An entire chapter is devoted to "stringy" geometry, which is a fascinating subject given that it touches so many areas of modern mathematics.
14. The discussion of the `hidden sector' and its conjectured relation to dark matter and supersymmetry breaking.
15. The author's treatment of the AdS/CFT conjecture is superb and is by far the most interesting part of the book. The dualities shown to exists between gauge theory and string theory are a possible route to a full understanding of nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics, which to this date has defied resolution.

Some major omissions or discussions that need more elaboration include:
1. The difficulties that are actually involved in quantizing the Nambu-Goto action. The authors remark that this is due to the presence of the square root, but it would have been interesting if they would have indicated just where the trouble rises explicitly when a quantization procedure is attempted with the Nambu-Goto action. In ordinary quantum field theory, the presence of the square root is interpreted as a "nonlocal" problem, but even there this issue is not usually dealt with in a manner that is very transparent.
2. A more detailed treatment of string field theory for those readers who want to compare it to what is done in second quantization in ordinary quantum field theory.
3. The role of the Beltrami differentials in the attaining of a measure for moduli space that is invariant under reparametrizations of the moduli space.
4. No in-depth discussion of characteristic classes over and above the algebra involved in their manipulation (i.e. the wedge products). An understanding of characteristic classes is crucial to understanding superstring and brane theory, but the pages of this book mislead the unsuspecting reader that there is nothing to characteristic classes except algebraic manipulation of the differential forms. But characteristic classes have a deep geometrical meaning, and obtaining insight into this meaning has been proven to be difficult for students of string theory. This book does not provide any of this insight, nor do any of the other books currently in print on string theory.
5. Is supersymmetry absolutely necessary for the incorporation of fermions into string theory? The authors seem to argue that it is, but an explicit proof is lacking.
6. The proof that `threshold bound states' are stable is omitted, disappointing the more mathematically sophisticated reader. As the authors remark, the proof involves a special type of index theory involving non-Fredholm operators, and where one must deal with a continuous spectrum. The usual index theory breaks down since one is only dealing with elliptic operators, and contributions to the index from bosons and fermions do not necessarily have to be integers.
7. The authors should have included more discussion on mirror symmetry, beautiful subject that it is.
8. Dp-branes are asserted to be useful in incorporating non-Abelian gauge symmetries in string theory, in that they appear "naturally" as confined to world volumes of multiply-coincident Dp-branes. But is this the best way to introduce these symmetries? Is there a method, other than this one and `compactification', that is just as "natural" and does not have the contrived element that the introduction of Dp-branes sometimes has?
9. The authors need to elaborate in more detail on the definition of "stable" and "unstable" D-brane.
10. The omitting of the proof that string theories are ultraviolet finite theories of quantum gravity. This is by far the most serious omission in the book. This reviewer does not know of a reference that proves this assertion, and many in the physics community have pointed to this omission as being a sign that the string theory research community has been misled by false assertions of proof.

Excellent Book.......2007-03-11

I think this is a great book that provides not only a great introduction to string theory (there is no assumed prior knowledge of string theory), but also provides coverage of many more advanced topics as well. I think it's likely that the vast majority of students specializing in string theory will want to read it at some point in their studies.

The coverage of topics in the first few chapters is in some ways fairly standard. The first two chapters consists of a high level overview of string theory, bosonic string, the Nambu-Goto action the Polyakov action, the Virasoro algebra, the critical dimension, light code gauge and the spectra of open/closed strings. After this there is a chapter on conformal field theory, naturally emphasizing the parts relevant to string theory (including a bit of string field theory). This is followed by discussions of worldsheet supersymmetry, spacetime supersymmetry, anomalies, T-duality and heterotic strings. The writing is very clear and considering the nature of the material, fairly straight forward. There are two things that I considered exceptional strengths. One is that the discussions incorporate D-branes, M-theory and the (unexpected) symmetries of string theory early on. The other is that there are numerous worked examples, as there are throughout the book.

At a very high level the rest of the book contains more extensive discussions of M-theory, compactification (including a substantial amount besides the standard approach of the compact dimensions being a Calabi-Yau space), mirror symmetry, S-duality, possible cosmological consequences of string theory, black holes and other solutions with horizons, matrix theory, AdS/CFT correspondence (a proposed equivalence between closed string solutions on the product of a sphere and anti-deSitter space and Yang-Mills theories) and the holographic principle (or as some would say conjecture).

The things I appreciated the most about this material was that is was a very interesting mix of topics. The discussion of black holes and cosmology was fairly extensive (for cosmology it was the most extensive I've seen in a text book). As was the coverage of the AdS/CFT correspondence. There were also some topics that I don't recall seeing in other string theory books, such as warped geometries in compactification and S-branes (these are like D-branes but they satisfy Dirichlet boundary conditions in timelike directions).

Needless to say it's a fairly advanced book. There is some coverage of things like complex spaces, topology, general relativity and cosmology. However this material is more along the lines of a review, not something intended to teach from first principles (some of the other string theory books cover this kind material in more detail).

All-in-all I believe this book not only provides a great introduction, it also provides an excellent treatment of some of the more advanced topics in string theory.

Best of All Worlds.......2007-03-09

This new textbook on string theory might be considered a modern pimped up version of Zwiebach's introductory course. The book is - as an introduction - better than the 2-volume set by Schwarz (Green, Schwarz, Witten), which is partly outdated, and on the same footing as Polchinski's version, but certainly not as thorough and elaborate. There is some overlap between all books (e.g. the CFT bits from Polchinski are quite similar to those in this new text, the introduction of the bosonic string via the relativistic point particle looks like the ones by Polchinski and Zwiebach, but Becker & Schwarz immediately generalise the concept to p-branes, SCFTs are discussed in a similar manner as in Polchinski, and so on), but there are additional features that really add to the value of the book: all exercises within the text have solutions directly under them, so one can either try to solve them or read them through, and some parts are explained more clearly. The concepts of "(gauge) symmetries" are discussed slightly better than by Polchsinki or GSW, but for those who want mathematical proofs instead of hand-waving arguments, and more background material on supersymmetry, I can only say that I have found no books on string theory that really do that. Both are subjects of study on their own and would go "beyond the scope" of these books... Nevertheless, a very good introduction and most of all: up to date!

For mid-undergraduates, I think, the perfect sequence for string theory would be (provided one acquires knowledge of QFT and Lie algebras for the more advanced texts):

Zwiebach>Becker/Schwarz>Polchinski (supplemented by GSW's first volume)

But if you want to learn string theory more quickly or if you don't have problems with the very basics, then leave out Zwiebach and go for this one immediately. For graduates, Polchinski should be the start, but one can take Backer/Schwarz always as a references and supplement on some topics (connection to black holes and gauge theories).

A Modern Fairytale.......2007-01-30

This is a fabulous excursion into a world inhabited by all sorts of mythical creatures: Calabi-Yau 3-folds, D-branes, orbifolds, ten and eleven-dimensional backgrounds, supersymmetric partners, covariant fermionic vertex operators and many others that only the wildest imaginations can conceive of. The wizards and magicians who have conjured these beasts have also cast a powerful spell on their easily-beguiled followers who see streets of gold and emerald trees as they walk through the morass of E8*E8 gauge fields, compactifications and dualities. This tome will be a welcome addition to your bookshelf right between Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland. I gladly recommend each of you to take a brief stroll into this enchanted land to be followed by the volumes of Landau and Lifchitz, so that you will be able to find your way back to reality again. Some have called strings "a theory of anything". Indeed, it is a wonderful place where you can make all your wishes come true. But do not stay too long in the kingdom of string theory lest you end up like so many others who are lost, searching endlessly for the legendary realms of M-theory or wandering aimlessly in the infinite labyrinth of the Landscape, wasting the remaining years of their life on naught but a fable.

Most up-to-date string theory tome published this year........2007-01-24

This volume was authored by one of the most respected researchers in the field, as well as the Becker sisters. It is beautifully illustrated, and is well timed for upcomming experimental tests of superstring theory at the Large Hadron collider. I did not give if five starts because it only devoted four pages to the Landscape, which professor Susskind, the father of string theory, has declared the most significant advance in physics in the past century.

An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Frontiers in Physics)

Average customer rating:

Perfect.
Wow, does this suck . . . get a different book!
This book is a very very very bad book which you never buy.
Don't make the same fault I did!
It is sad that we don't have a better book out there...

An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Frontiers in Physics)
Michael E. Peskin , and Dan V. Schroeder
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0201503972

Customer Reviews:

Perfect........2007-08-10

I received the book as it should be: knew. And it cames before the estimated time.

Wow, does this suck . . . get a different book!.......2007-06-13

Ok--I just need to help lower the overall rating for this book. I think the people who love it are professors and students who already are familiar with QFT--because it glosses over everything, does pertinent examples, etc. But that's just it, it GLOSSES over everything. Note that nearly all the higher reviews say things like: "oh, you wouldn't want to start with this book." or "Everyone knows that you're going to need more books than this one to understand it . . ." I couldn't even figure out how to create a Feynmann diagram from this book, let alone what one MEANT. FYI, my favorite QFT book so far is Weinberg's Quantum Theory of Fields.

This book is a very very very bad book which you never buy........2007-01-20

Absolutely no logic.
Perfectly nonclear.
No subject.
Mathematically poor.(very poor.)
Nonneccessary words.
No depth.
Not for self-study.
Just arrangement.
No physical insight.
No process.
No thinking.

This is indeed not a book.
This is a stuff for a vanity.
I wonder whether Peskin and Schroeder are genuine physicists.

Don't make the same fault I did!.......2006-12-16

Hi there!

The important information first: I'm a graduate student, mainly interested in theoretical physics. At the moment, I'm trying to get a deeper understanding of QFT.

Peskin's QFT book is NOT the one you should buy if you want to UNDERSTAND renormalization.

I learned the basics of QFT (\phi^4 and QED up to a first contact with renormalization - "trivial" subtraction of infinities) in a lecture and I finally felt like: "What does renormalization mean? What is it good for? Is there a deeper truth in it?" Well, the answer to the last question is definitely yes. It's about the Beta function. This function tells you how the coupling constants of a QFT behave at different momenta. E.g., we can learn from it why perturbation theory works for QED at low energies and for QCD at high energies (I think, this is amazing).

What I just said I learned from Huang's book. Peskin "deals" with it in chapters 10 to 12. In the middle of chapter 12 I finally said to myself: "Hey, don't feel stupid. This book is just completely incomprehensible here."

In my opinion, if you want to see behind renormalization (and therefore behind any QFT(!!)), don't buy Peskin's book. Any other book is better regarding this issue.

It is sad that we don't have a better book out there..........2006-05-28

The main problem of this book: what exactly is it supposed to be?

If it is an introduction, then the opening chapters are written at a level too sophisticated that an average first-time student can't handle.

If it aims to be a "bible" of the subject, then the later chapters are far too technical, loaded with only Feynman diagram calculations for standard model. Not being a phenomenologist, I personally have very little interest in all the technical detail, and apparently several other reviewers share my view here.

Now let me gives some examples to support my claim.

First, C, P and T symmetries are introduced very early on (right after Dirac spinor), and in a very formal way. Yes, they logically belong there, but in an "introduction" of the subject you don't throw out an isolated topic like this which you don't make use of in the following few hundred pages.

The part on cannonical quantization is written at a very fast pace. A complex scalar field is probably the first model you can construct with charged particles. And guess what kind of treatment it receives in this book? Not a single word in the main text. The problem 2 of that chapter essentially asks you to work out the content of this model with few hints given. If you have troble working it out, which is not uncommon for a first-timer, then you won't see the logic behind the decomposition of a complex Dirac field either. This is done in the following chapter, with no explaination.

Like the charged scalar field example, some important pieces of knowledge are hidden only in the exercises. So if you treat these high-power opening chapters as your bible-type reference, you will often end up in the frustrating situation that the book tells you to work out by yourself what you are seeking in the first place.

Now get to the later parts of the book. As I mentioned above, the second half of the book is almost conceptually too simple, overloaded with technical details.

This downfall begins around the renormalization group. On the back of this book, this Prof. Micheal Dine is qouted: "it is the only field theory text with a thoroughly modern, Wilsonian treatment of renormalization". The connection between the Wilsonian idea and dimensional regularization/renormalization scale is shaky at best. You read the text, and are left puzzled at the magic: how does a cut-off scale become some (much lower) arbitrary momentum scale? No explaination. The Wilsonian theory is completely isolated and have little connection with the rest of the renormalization section.

Furthermore, the book does not do a very good job on Lie algebra and non-abilien Lie groups. I mean, come on, if this is an "introduction" type of book, make it more readable. If this is a "bible" type of book, make it more comprehensive.

Having voiced all my bad opinions, I have to admit that the book has its merit. Bottom line is, this is a book written by phenomenologists for phenomenologists. If you view it from such an angle, it is not too badly written after all, and does cover most of the important topics a phnomenologist would want to know. But you may want to start from a more accessible text such as Ryder.

If you are a theorist, but not a phenomenologist, then, well, let's say the ability of getting through the first part perfectly is the minimum requirement for your research.

If you are an experimentalist, don't bother.

An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics

Average customer rating:

great handbook
An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics- Terrel L.Hill
A nice companion to McQuarrie's text
Reliable Treatise
Excelent first book on the subject

An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics
Terrell L. Hill
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486652424

Book Description

Part I deals with principles of quantum statistical mechanics. Part II examines systems composed of independent molecules or other independent subsystems. Part III considers systems of interacting molecules, and Part IV covers quantum statistics and includes sections on Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics, photon gas, and free-volume theories of quantum liquids.

Customer Reviews:

great handbook.......2007-09-30

i'm a student of applied chemistry and this book has everything you need too know as undergraduate of statistical thermodynamics

An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics- Terrel L.Hill.......2005-08-31

An excellent text book for Physical Chemist who want to get sound footing in Statistical Thermodynamics.Inorder to really get a good view of the basics of statistical mechanics the reader really needs to spend an adequate amount of time in digesting the contents of the initial chapter. However, after spending some amount of time in reading those initial chapters, one can grasp the latter parts of the book in a quite interesting fashion.In my opinion, this book is a must for those who want to master the statstical thermodynamics. Infact, one would be really amazed at the standard of the book considering the fact that it is reasonably old. No new standard books on ' Statistical Mechanics' can provide such an adequate foundations as it in this book. I would strongly recommend this book along with the other book 'Statistical Mechanics' by the same author.
Sasisanker Padmanabhan

A nice companion to McQuarrie's text.......2005-07-02

I thought this was a terriable book by itself, but makes for a nice companion when reading through McQuarrie's book. McQuarrie skimps out on some of the explanations and instead leaves it to the reader to figure it out for themselves by solving his problems at the end of the chapter. One can usually find the answers (or at least some hints) within this book.

Reliable Treatise.......2004-05-12

Written in 1960 and revised in 1986 this is a general treatise on
stat-thermo in the tradition of Tolman and McQuarrie. I have a well
used copy on my desk, bought originally as a textbook for a graduate
course - probably the cheapest textbook I ever bought at $12.95.

The first chapter derives the ensembles from the quantum perspective.
This has the advantage of generality and the disadvantage that
it requires some rudimentary knowledge of quanta and is less
expedient for the scientist who is only concerned with classical
stat-mech.

Once the foundations are laid, the book is divided into
applications to non-interacting and interacting systems. In the
latter category is the virial expansion for imperfect gases. This
derivation makes an unnecessary effort to introduce a relative
activity. The derivation in Jackson's book is more transparent
and shorter without sacrificing rigor. The Mayer expansion for
hard spheres is treated in useful detail.

Chapter 18 includes a good description of the Debye-Hueckel theory
of electrolytes. The derivation of the Flory-Huggins theory of
polymer solutions in Chapter 21 is excellent - more concise and
effortless than all others that I have seen. Chapter 14 covers the
solution of the one-dimensional Ising magnet but I still have trouble
understanding this one. The appendices are useful and include
the maximum term method and method of undetermined multipliers
which are the cornerstone of the fundamental theorems.

Excelent first book on the subject.......2000-12-27

Hill presents the fundamental problems on the subject and methods to work these problems. Thanks to Dover you can have this book as a second source on class or for self learning. It has the basic fundamentals before you go to McQuarrie Stat. Mech. Excelent for Phys. Chemists approaching the subject

String Theory, Vol. 1 : An Introduction to the Bosonic String (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)

Average customer rating:

Do yourself a favour and use instead the book by Green Schwarz & Witten or the one by Theisen.
The string theory book
Enlightening text on a murky topic
Good try, but too dense
very thorough and complete

String Theory, Vol. 1 : An Introduction to the Bosonic String (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)
Joseph Polchinski
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521633036

Book Description

The two volumes that comprise String Theory provide an up-to-date, comprehensive account of string theory. Volume 1 provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string, based on the Polyakov path integral and conformal field theory. The first four chapters introduce the central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory, the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. The book then treats string interactions: the general formalism, and detailed treatments of the tree level and one loop amplitudes. Toroidal compactification and many important aspects of string physics, such as T-duality and D-branes are also covered, as are higher-order amplitudes, including an analysis of their finiteness and unitarity, and various nonperturbative ideas. The volume closes with an appendix giving a short course on path integral methods, followed by annotated references, and a detailed glossary.

Customer Reviews:

Do yourself a favour and use instead the book by Green Schwarz & Witten or the one by Theisen........2006-08-26

Dr. Polchinski may know a lot on string theory but he doesn't know that much on how to write a book. I have been struggling with this book trying to learn string theory and it has been a total failure. You may think it's me but is not. I have studied chapters 1 to 4. I will announce some of its bad features: 1-The notation is awful specially on chapter 2 when he defines the infinitesimal variation of a physical quantity in a very complicated way, all formulas are presented in terms of awful excesively complicated expresions that make you feel sick (and I'm not joking), also on chapter two he defines a way for applying Wicks theorem (eq.(2.2.7)) using exponential operators but I finally gave up and did it my way for calculating expression (2.2.13). 2-Many of the results are not derived and trying to understand what happen from line to line is, besides being a mystery, in my opinion hard to say the less.
3- On chapter 3 I liked the way he calculates de Faddeev Popov determinant in terms of ghosts and you begin to hope that the book is finally going to start getting better but is not, on page 102 and 'till the end of the chapter (page 118) he starts just throwing a lot of equations that you just can't understand where they came from, specially page 105 where he uses the geodesic distance to higher orders but never explains nor show what this expressions are nor what approximations he is doing, nor where they came from. Then again on page 107 he gives a relation between operators regularized by dimensional regularization and by 'polchinski' regularization, at least the second one is defined but the other is not (on curved space)and he just shows some awful equations that no one knows where they come from. This book has been written for someone who already knows a lot on string theory but it is not for someone who is trying to learn string theory for the first time. All in all try instead the classic book by Green Schwarz and Witten or the one by Theisen and this one use it only as a reference.

The string theory book.......2006-04-01

In short, I think volumes I and II of "String Theory" are the best books on string theory available. Presumably any serious student of string theory will study them both. The writing style is clear, physical considerations are at the forefront, the selection of topics is excellent and the treatment is as up-to-date as any I'm aware of.

Volume I covers the bosonic string. Of course this doesn't provide a realistic model for our universe, but understanding it forms the foundation of the study of more realistic string theories.

The first chapter provides the physical motivation for string theory. A brief description of some current unsolved problems in physics, and how string theory may resolve them, is given. Most notably this includes not only providing a quantum theory of gravity, but also providing a grand unified theory. A brief outline of techniques used throughout the book is given. These are covered in more detail as the book develops and include: the Polyakov action (how to get it from the Nambu-Goto form and why it's more useful), the Polyakov action symmetries, string theory as a two-dimensional quantum field theory, string boundary conditions, the string spectra, supersymmetry (worldsheet and spacetime) and the critical dimension. This is an excellent introduction and nicely sets the stage for the rest of the book.

The next chapter presents conformal field theory. It's also an excellent introduction. In particular covering conformal field theory with anticommuting fields. The Virasoro algebra is also derived. He could have covered these conformal field theory concepts as they came up, but I liked having them in one central location early in the book.

Strings take center stage again in the following chapter as the Polyakov path integral is examined in great detail. Among the results are a calculation of the critical dimension and the recovery of general relativity in the low energy limit of string theory. These are just a couple of the interesting results, there is much more in this chapter.

The following chapters quantize the string, calculate the string spectrum, derive the S-matrix, calculate tree level scattering amplitudes and calculate one-loop amplitudes (higher order amplitudes are covered in the final chapter). One of many things that stand out is his discussion of divergences. He describes the difference between infrared and ultraviolet divergences. After showing ultraviolet divergences are absent in string theory he comments on how the mechanisms that remove them is different for open and closed strings. This is just one example of how physical concepts are kept at the forefront.

The chapter on compactification covers more than just the basics such as (D - 4) dimensions must be compactified and this gives rise to some extra gauge fields. Orbifolds are introduced in this chapter. It also covers T-duality, one of the important (and unexpected) symmetries of string theories. D-branes are also introduced (D-branes are covered in more detail in volume II), obviously this is an important concept in string theory. I was happy to see such important concepts introduced so quickly.

In short, this is a great book. Even with only light coverage of supersymmetry (this is covered in detail in volume II) many interesting and up-to-date topics are presented. Clearly the author put a lot of time into thinking about how to make a difficult subject as approachable as possible. Throughout the book he anticipates questions the reader may have, or maybe should have, and addresses them.

Enlightening text on a murky topic.......2002-09-17

This book succeeds in what seems to be the impossible. It actually presents a clear, up to date, and entertaining version of a field that is still very much in a state of active research and is still, after all these years, on quite uncertain ground. By studying this, the reader who thinks intelligently about the material presented will be able to form his/her own opinions on this still somewhat controversial topic and will be able to converse intelligently with others who have opinions on the topic. I know that for me personally, this text opened up beautiful ideas which, to a large extent, are still unexplored. Before I read this book, my gut feelings about the topic were that it was rather dubious at best, but now that I understand (I think) the basic ideas of the field, I feel quite comfortable in it, indeed almost as if it is completely natural. What I think is one of the best things about this book is that it does not assume the pretense that string theory is on firm ground, that everything is quite certain and that string theory HAS to be the final theory of nature in all its glory. I find this attitude EXTREMELY pretensious and annoying. Instead, it simply covers what we know about string theory, and explains in detail just why it is consistent, and why it offers an explanation for what we see in nature. In short, it leaves just enough room for the imagination of an intelligent reader to philosophize as to the meaning of the theory and as to its ultimate place in nature
As for practical details, it seems to me that the reader should at the very least have a firm understanding of Quantum Field Theory (at least at the level of Weinberg's first volume, see my review on that modern masterpiece), and to a lesser extent of General Relativity, before even attempting to tackle this. I know that I myself, despite the fact that I have read several texts on QFT, had to reread several sizeable chunks of the book to fully digest it.

Good try, but too dense.......2002-04-12

Lets face it, string theory is a difficult subject. But the only reason this book is the best string theory text is because they are all lousy. What it comes down to is string theory is too new for a good textbook writer to have tackled the task. What has happened, is string theory is currently populated by a small group of elite geniuses. So some of these elite geniuses take to writing a book, which turns out to be clear to other geniuses, but maybe not so clear to others, who are nonetheless capable of learning the theory. This happens in all fields, you will find that modern quantum mechanics books are much more readable than volumes written by the founders of the theory. Polchinski has clear writing, but can you solve the problems? If it seems clear but solving the problems is a mystery, it isn't a good book. Why can't people put in lots of examples? Why can't they include solutions to at least odd numbered problems? If they went to all the trouble to write the book they could at least do that. After all the goal is to teach, not to be mysterious. What needs to happen is some physicist with a talent for writing needs to A)Write an undergraduate level text on field theory, and B)write a more accessible book about string theory aimed at people who aren't at the level of Weinberg intelligence wise.

very thorough and complete.......2000-08-22

Polochinski presents upto date developments (mostly in 2nd volume) in string theory such as D-branes and dualities that are not discussed in Green, Witten, Schwarz's Superstring theory text. However, I found GWS's arguments easier to follow because they were intuitively and physically motivated. Although Polchinski's books lack physical insights, he more than makes up for them by completeness of the material, mathematical rigor and helpful exercises. However, I highly recommend that you first get Di Francesco's conformal field theory and read chapters 3-7 , 10 and 12 to get a better feel for stuff like state-operator mappings, Virasoro algebra, OPE's, etc. Although Polchinski claims the books are pretty much self-contained, I would say QFT (probably around lvl of 1st vol. of Weinberg) and GR are min prereq and some knowledge of SUSY, rep. theory of Lie alg, alg. toplogy wouldn't hurt. Lastly, the first edition had many many typos but corrections are frequently updated and you can download them through a website whose address is given in the book (the address in the book has a typo and should read "ucsb").

Introduction to Soft Matter: Polymers, Colloids, Amphiphiles and Liquid Crystals

Average customer rating:

A concised and unified overview on soft matter

Introduction to Soft Matter: Polymers, Colloids, Amphiphiles and Liquid Crystals
Ian W. Hamley
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471899526

Book Description

Provides an introduction to this exciting subject with chapters covering natural and synthetic polymers, colloids, surfactants, and liquid crystals, highlighting the many and varied applications of these materials.

The only introductory book on this subject
Cutting-edge introduction to a new and emerging subject area
An interdisciplinary approach suitable of chemistry, materials science, physics, and biochemistry courses
Copious end-of-chapter problems

Customer Reviews:

A concised and unified overview on soft matter.......2004-01-19

This book contains a concised overview on soft matter physics or what chemists use to call colloid chemistry. As stated by the author in the Preface, it has been written primarily for undergraduate students. However, it should be also useful to researchers that are looking for a unified view of the subject. The book is organized in five chapters: 1) Introduction, 2) Polymers, 3) Colloids, 4) Amphiphiles, and 5) Liquid crystals. Each chapter includes both FURTHER READING and QUESTIONS sections (numerical solutions to the questions are provided at the end of the book). All in all this quasi-pocket book appear to have reached its scope, I think, and hence I rated it with five stars. Readers that want to dig deeper into this subject may consult the book Soft Matter Physics: an Introduction, by Kleman and Lavrentovich (648 pp). Those wishing to take an intermediate step, may consult the recently published book Soft Condensed Matter by Jones (230 pp).

Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics

Average customer rating:

Pretty good service
Ever wonder why energy flows from a hot body to a cooler one?
Good reference book
Caltech Graduate Student
Only modern stat mech book

Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics
David Chandler
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195042778

Book Description

Leading physical chemist David Chandler takes a new approach to statistical mechanics to provide the only introductory-level work on the modern topics of renormalization group theory, Monte Carlo simulations, time correlation functions, and liquid structure. The author provides compact summaries of the fundamentals of this branch of physics and discussions of many of its traditional elementary applications, interspersed with over 150 exercises and microcomputer programs.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty good service.......2007-02-17

The book cover is in worse condition than I expected, but the contents are all there, and it came within a week of ordering.

Ever wonder why energy flows from a hot body to a cooler one?.......2006-02-04

I used this book while taking the course for which this book was designed, Prof. Chandler's stat mech course for first year graduate students.

I agree with the reviewer who wrote that this book avoids a lot of filler that can distort the main thrust of the material at hand.

I disagree with the reviewer who wrote that this is not the book for a beginner. I used this book having studied undergrad p-chem but essentially no stat mech. Being a concise text, one must read carefully to extract the point of each paragraph. I sometimes found myself re-reading certain sections a few times in order to understand them. The abundant prose should be evidence that the author is trying to provide a physical picture to improve the scientific intuition of the reader.

This doesn't mean the book isn't for a beginner. It just means what you should already know: you will not learn stat mech by skimming any text just once with a pint of beer in your hand.

I constantly return to this book for review of thermo and stat mech concepts. For my grad qualifying exams I mostly used McQuarrie for general p-chem overview, but switched right back to IMSM for thermo and stat mech review.

If you're looking for a reference book with every possible stat mech problem worked out to help with your problem sets, this is not it. If you want to understand stat mech this book is the first step.

Good reference book.......2001-05-23

A clear, concise explanation of statistical mechanics. Some people may complain about the "concise" part--in many cases, mathematical exercises are left as exercises to the student. However, this practice allows the reader to really understand the material by doing, not just reading. I learned stat mech for the first time from this book, and only examined other texts (mcquarrie or hill) afterwards.

Caltech Graduate Student.......2000-03-02

This was a great book. It covered the important material and left out all of the extra garbage that most books carry on for pages about. The presentation was done using clear mathematics and modern, easily followed notation. The book is short making it practical to actually read the entire book if you are extremely busy. We used the book in conjunction with Hill. I don't recommend Hill because it is hard to follow.

Only modern stat mech book.......1998-06-22

The best part of this book is that it is modern. You have chapters on Monte Carlo simulations, the Ising model, and more. You don't get long chapters on the partition function of an ideal gas, for example. The bad part about this book is that it is not immediately transparent if you're reading stat mech for the first time. I like it more the more I know about stat mech, but it's not a good beginner's book, and I think it's better to have another book with it - maybe Hill or McQuarrie - since it's not really that long either. Still, recommended (get the soln. manual too) with these caveats.

Symmetry and Spectroscopy: An Introduction to Vibrational and Electronic Spectroscopy

Average customer rating:

The best
Excellent spectroscopy book
loved this book
Great book.
Great book for a difficult subject

Symmetry and Spectroscopy: An Introduction to Vibrational and Electronic Spectroscopy
Daniel C. Harris , and Michael D. Bertolucci
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 048666144X

Book Description

Informal, effective undergraduate-level text introduces vibrational and electronic spectroscopy, presenting applications of group theory to the interpretation of UV, visible, and infrared spectra without assuming a high level of background knowledge. 200 problems with solutions. Numerous illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

The best.......2007-07-24

I bought this book about half way through my postgraduate studies in Physical chemistry, then immediately kicked myself for not buying it earlier. If you're a bit rusty in QM, as I was, then the chapter on QM is worth the price of admission alone, the same could really be said for all of the 5 chapters (Group Theory, QM, Vibrations, MO Theory and Electronic Transitions) though as they are all clear, well constructed, with nice problems (and solutions for most). Great introduction for any aspiring Physical Chemist.

Excellent spectroscopy book.......2007-05-17

There was really no need for my short review to convince anyone interested or even marginally active in the field of molecular spectroscopy that the SYMMETRY AND SPECTROSCOPY-Introduction to Vibrational and Electronic Spectroscopy by D.C. Harris and M.D. Bertolucci is an excellent presentation of the underlying physical principles, the laws and parameters involved in the measurement and, above all and in accordance with the title, the involvement of symmetry on the appearance of virbrational and electronic spectra.
Recommended, in my opinion, to both students and tutors, and to those interested in the application or the theoretical part of the aforementioned spectroscopic fields.

loved this book .......2007-03-29

I used this book to supplement my molecular spec. course many years ago. As others have noted - very friendly in its tone.

For other classic books in this area look at:

1. Introduction to Molecular Spectroscopy by Gordon M. Barrow, McGraw-Hill, 1962 (You should avoid his more commonly found book with a similar title: The Structure of Molecules: An Introduction to Molecular Spectroscopy, published by W. A. Benjamin, 1964. This book is too basic.)

2. Introduction to Molecular Structure and Spectroscopy by William A. Guillory, Allyn and Bacon, 1977

Check out my other reviews for other chem books.

Great book........2007-03-17

Got this book to study for a Spectroscopy of Optical Materials course and it was wonderfull. Easy to follow and complete.

Great book for a difficult subject.......2006-02-26

Harris and Bertolucci do a great job of covering every detail needed to know to understand the subject. Good guide to confusing subject.

Statistical Mechanics: A Concise Introduction for Chemists

Average customer rating:

Excellent Introduction

Statistical Mechanics: A Concise Introduction for Chemists
B. Widom
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521009669

Book Description

This is an introduction to statistical mechanics, intended to be used either in an undergraduate physical chemistry course or by beginning graduate students with little undergraduate background in the subject. It assumes familiarity with thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, the kinetic theory of gases, quantum mechanics and spectroscopy, at the level at which these subjects are normally treated in undergraduate physical chemistry. Highly illustrated with numerous exercises and worked solutions, it provides a concise, up-to-date treatise of statistical mechanics and is ideally suited to use in one semester courses.

Download Description

Statistical mechanics is the theoretical apparatus used to study the properties of macroscopic systems - systems made up of many atoms or molecules - and relates those properties to the system's microscopic constitution. This book is an introduction to statistical mechanics, intended to be used either by advanced undergraduates or by beginning graduate students. The first chapter deals with statistical thermodynamics and aims to quickly derive the most commonly used formulas in the subject. The remainder of the book then illustrates the application of these formulas in traditional areas such as the ideal gas and less traditional areas such as the quantum ideal gas. Highly illustrated with numerous exercises and worked solutions, it provides a concise, up-to-date treatise of statistical mechanics ideal for use on an 8-12 lecture course.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Introduction.......2006-09-01

While looking for a suitable textbook for a one-semester course on Statistical Mechanics, I found this little gem by Prof. Widom, a recognized authority in the field. It was a pleasure to read, clear, all the classical topics well explained, very understandable.
Several excellent textbook on the subject are available, but none conveys so much in so little space (THE SPACE you have available in an undergraduate lecture course), yet with no compromise on rigour or clarity. At the beginning, I was a little uneasy by the choice of skipping a discussion of the (difficult) foundations, jumping directly to the Boltzmann distribution as a starting point. Now I totally agree with it, it is the best for a first introduction, and if time is left (rarely) one can profitably add a discussion on fundations at the end of the course.

Introduction to Surface and Thin Film Processes

Average customer rating:

Scant physical explanation.

Introduction to Surface and Thin Film Processes
John A. Venables
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521785006

Book Description

Surface and thin film processes are crucial in understanding current and future electronic, magnetic, optical and chemical devices. This book covers the experimental and theoretical understanding of surface and thin film processes. It presents a unique description of surface processes in absorption and crystal growth, including bonding in metals and semiconductors. Venables, an international expert on the subject, covers practical experimental design, sample preparation, and analytical techniques, including detailed discussions of Auger electron spectroscopy and microscopy. Throughout, he emphasizes thermodynamic and kinetic models of structure. This volume provides extensive leads into practical and research literature, as well as links to resources on the World Wide Web. Each chapter contains problems that will help develop awareness of the subject and the methods used. An ideal graduate textbook, this book will also be useful as a sourcebook for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering.

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This book covers the experimental and theoretical understanding of surface and thin film processes. It presents a unique description of surface processes in adsorption and crystal growth, including bonding in metals and semiconductors. Emphasis is placed on the strong link between science and technology in the description of, and research for, new devices based on thin film and surface science. Practical experimental design, sample preparation and analytical techniques are covered, including detailed discussions of Auger electron spectroscopy and microscopy. Thermodynamic and kinetic models of structure are emphasised throughout. The book provides extensive leads into practical and research literature, as well as resources on the World Wide Web (see http://venables.asu.edu/book). Each chapter contains problems which aim to develop awareness of the subject and the methods used. Aimed as a graduate textbook, this book will also be useful as a sourcebook for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering.

Customer Reviews:

Scant physical explanation........2001-04-20

Venables' text fairly thoroughly covers modern surface science techniques. He summarizes thirty years of fundamental research and hits on modern interest areas. However, for a text labeled as an introduction, very few introductory ideas are adequately explained. Where are the energy level diagrams? Energies associated with various processes are arbitrarily assigned to be positive or negative, and reference energies are never mentioned. Attempts to solve chapter ending problems invariably lead to frustration, as the questions are vague, and the suggested results are impossible to obtain without consulting other, more detailed texts like Dejenqueres and Spanjaard. The sections on crystal growth are impenetrable unless one reads the referenced papers, but this is inexcusable for an introductory text. A more suitable title for the book would be: "A Survey of Surface Science," or "Collected Citations of Surface Science Research: 1970-2000"

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry

Average customer rating:

Kind of a disappointment
Philosophy: By Socrates, Quantum Chemistry: By Linus Pauling
Oldie but goodie
Simple with everything
Richly historical account of molecular quantum mechanics

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry
Linus Pauling , and E. Bright Wilson
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486648710

Book Description

This widely adopted undergraduate-level text applies quantum mechanics to a broad range of chemical and physical problems, covering such subjects as wave functions for the hydrogen atom, perturbation theory, the Pauli exclusion principle and the structure of simple and complex molecules. With numerous tables and figures.

Customer Reviews:

Kind of a disappointment.......2007-05-20

This was the fourth qm book I read. I was expecting it to help me make the transition from quantum mechanics to quantum chemistry, but it didn't quiet succeed in doing so. As for QM there exist better books than this (eg Sakurai) and for QChem, I found Szabo's book to be much more better (with less of fundamentals and directly going towards applications)

Regards
Purushottam

Philosophy: By Socrates, Quantum Chemistry: By Linus Pauling.......2004-06-29

How would an "Introduction to Philosophy" by Socrates or a "Basics of the Piano" by Mozart sound like? This is something similar. Linus Pauling, the unprecedented pioneer of the application of Quantum Mechanics to Chemistry, had written this book in the 1930s as perhaps the first introduction to QM for Chemists, supported by his colleague, E Bright Wilson, a brilliant chemist in his own right. A generation of Chemists grew up learning from this book, and its content is as relevant and articulate today as it was then. Hundreds of Quantum Chemistry books, some of which are excellent, have been written in the times since it was first published. But this book still retains an incomparable flavour that brings out the fundamental nature of QM and Chemical Bonding. I have to admit that I found this book slightly difficult, because Pauling and Wilson, although being extremely lucid, never compromise on the Math. But gradually I learnt that this is the kind of book which belongs in the same category of, say, Ernest Eliel's stereochemistry book. That means that every moment you spent on it will be worth it, even if it takes you a very long time to go through it. This is one of those books where every word is carefully thought and then stated, making the journey difficult at places, but always rewarding. And why not. It is hard to imagine anyone else writing with so much confidence on the topic. So it is important not to gloss over this book quickly and then discard it as being dry, but persist in reading it and get insight out of it. The book opens with a discussion of Lagrangian mechanics and discusses some simple examples of its applications. It then moves on to the basic principles of QM, and comes to the Hydrogen molecule, which was the pinnacle of succcess for the Physicists. I think that this book has the best discussion of the H molecule ever written. I have seen other excellent Quantum Chemistry books giving a reference to this work whenever they discuss the H molecule. Moreover, I believe that a thorough understanding of the H molecule is of paramount importance for understanding any further application of QM to Chemistry. Discussion of this molecule opens the door to understanding orbitals, spherical harmonics, angular momentum and all the important concepts in theoretical Chemistry. So the book will score top points for this alone. Later on there are excellent discussions of the Variational Method, Perturbation theory and finally the various important approximations like Hartree-Fock theory and the structure of molecules. The appendices deal with detailed discussions of derivation and some mathematical topics. All in all, a clear and extremely lucid presentation, well worth every moment you can spend on it, by one of the greatest scientists of all time.

Oldie but goodie.......2003-09-12

This is a great, simple presentation of the Schroedinger viewpoint. There is no Dirac representation and no matrix mechanics. However, there is much to be liked about this book and it is a pleasure to read. Those who are baffled completely by quantum mechanics will find this an enlightening introduction and a simple understandable place to start. This is another one of those lesser known gems.

Simple with everything.......2002-12-19

If you are an undergraduate and you want everything you need, this is the book. The lack of matrix mechanics makes this book unsuitable for serious graduate students, though. I think it would actually be best for 1st or 2nd year serious undergraduate chemists who are well acquainted with differential equations.

Richly historical account of molecular quantum mechanics.......2002-06-12

In many ways, this is still my favourite quantum mechanics text. Why? Because the text is completely grounded in the quantum mechanics of atoms and molecules.

Historically, Linus Pauling spent his post-doc working throughout Europe where he absorbed the, then, new theory of quantum mechanics. However, the physicists that he learnt q.m. from only analysed the physics of, relatively simple, atomic systems. It would require someone with an immense breadth of knowledge in chemistry to make quantum mechanics come alive for molecules. This was Linus Pauling. Pauling first applied q.m. to such diverse topics as: the chemical bond, resonance energy, electronegativity, crystal structure of molecules and hydrogen bonds.

And it shows. The uniqueness of this q.m. textbook is that it gives immensely detailed references to the different ways the early physicists/chemists attacked the q.m. of bonds in molecules. Many different ansatz's and approximations to pertubation problems are given. And Pauling should know, for he was right in the thick of it. The historical value of these references alone is worth the price of this book. It's a real shame that most modern books leave these out, because a discussion of these approximations methods give a lot of insight to q.m. in molecules.

In contrast, I find modern textbooks on physical chemistry to be often lacking in deep physical insight. However, textbooks written by physicists run into all sorts of esoteric directions like quantum entanglement and the uncertainty principle and as a previous reviewer noted, Pauling's books says nothing about scattering and hardly anything on spin. This is probably because chemists aren't interested in what happens to particles in beams or Stern-Gerlach experiments. They are more interested in ionisation energy, enthalpies and bond energies.

Nevertheless, for out-and-out modern-day quantum physicists, Pauling's explanation of aspects of quantum mechanics will seem quaint, overly pictorial and concrete, e.g. discussion of *actual* orbits. And it is. However, for chemists and even atomic physicists, pondering such esoteric questions clouds the immense power of quantum mechanics in explaining the detailed properties of atoms and molecules.

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