Related papers: Lectures on W-Gravity, W-Geometry and \W-Strings
We review some of the recent progress in the continuum formulation of two-dimensional string theory, i.e. two-dimensional quantum gravity coupled to $c=1$ matter. Special attention is devoted to the discrete states and to the $w_\infty$…
These lectures review some of the basic properties of $N=2$ superconformal field theories and the corresponding topological field theories. One of my basic aims is to show how the techniques of topological field theory can be used to…
In these lectures I review the progress made over the last few years in the subject of string and string-inspired phenomenology. I take a practical approach, thereby concentrating more on explicit examples rather than on formal…
These lectures are devoted to introducing some of the basic features of quantum geometry that have been emerging from compactified string theory over the last couple of years. The developments discussed include new geometric features of…
It is argued that chiral algebras of conformal field theory possess a W-algebra structure. A survey of explicitly known W-algebras and their constructions is given. (Talk given at the XIX International Colloquium on ``Group Theoretical…
This is a redacted transcript of a course given by the author at Harvard in spring semester 2016. It contains a pedagogical overview of recent developments connecting the subjects of soft theorems, the memory effect and asymptotic…
The AdS/CFT correspondence provides quantum theories of gravity in which spacetime and gravitational physics emerge from ordinary non-gravitational quantum systems with many degrees of freedom. Recent work in this context has uncovered…
These are the lecture notes of a set of lectures delivered at the 1995 Trieste summer school in June. I review some recent work on duality in four dimensional Maxwell theory on arbitrary four manifolds, as well as a new set of topological…
These are expanded lecture notes of a mini-course whose objectives were to introduce the basic concepts, constructions and techniques of noncommutative geometry, as well as their uses as a framework for modelling quantum spacetime. Key…
By generalizing the Drinfel'd--Sokolov reduction we construct a large class of W algebras as reductions of Kac--Moody algebras. Furthermore we construct actions, invariant under local left and right W transformations, which are the…
We present a review of heterotic-type I string duality. In particular, we discuss the effective field theory of six- and four-dimensional compactifications with N>1 supersymmetries. We then describe various duality tests by comparing gauge…
These lectures briefly review our current understanding of classical and quantum gravity in three spacetime dimensions, concentrating on the quantum mechanics of closed universes and the (2+1)-dimensional black hole. Three formulations of…
This paper summarises oral contributions to the parallel session {\it Complex and conformal methods in classical and quantum gravity} which took place during the 20th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation held in…
I review recent progress in understanding non-perturbative aspects of string theory, quantum gravity and non-commutative geometry using lattice methods.
These lectures from the 1995 Trieste Summer School in High Energy Physics and Cosmology give an elementary introduction to perturbative superstring theory, superstring phenomenology, and the fermionic construction of perturbative string…
New Developments in String Gravity and String Cosmology are reported: 1-String driven cosmology and its Predictions. 2-The primordial gravitational wave background in string cosmology. 3-Non-singular string cosmologies from Exact Conformal…
This is a set of lectures given at the 99' Cargese Summer School: Particle Physics : Ideas and Recent Developments. They contain a pedestrian exposition of recent theoretical progress in non-perturbative field theory and string theory based…
Notes of my 14 `lectures on everything' given at the 1995 Les Houches school. An introductory course in topological and conformal field theory, strings, gauge fields, supersymmetry and more. The presentation is more mathematical then usual…
This is the written version of a short talk given at the University of Leipzig in December 1998. It reviews some general aspects of string theory from the viewpoint of the search for an unifying theory. Here, special emphasis lies on the…
This is an expanded version of the notes to a course taught by the first author at the 1995 Les Houches Summer School. Constraints on a tentative reconciliation of quantum theory and general relativity are reviewed. It is explained what…