Table of contents

String Theory from First Principles

A coherent undergraduate path from mechanics and fields to strings, branes, dualities, and holography

Read each section in order. Every title can be opened as a TheoryTrace document.

• Cover
• Copyright
• How to read this book
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Why Strings?
• Chapter 2: Mathematical Foundations
• Chapter 3: Special Relativity and Spacetime
• Chapter 4: Classical Mechanics from an Action Principle
• Chapter 5: Classical Fields and Local Symmetry
• Chapter 6: Quantum Mechanics for Relativistic Systems
• Chapter 7: Quantum Field Theory in One Semester
• Chapter 8: The Relativistic Point Particle
• Chapter 9: The Classical Relativistic String
• Chapter 10: Symmetries of the Worldsheet
• Chapter 11: Solving the Classical String
• Chapter 12: Quantizing the Bosonic String
• Chapter 13: Conformal Field Theory Essentials
• Chapter 14: The Path Integral and String Interactions
• Chapter 15: Spacetime Fields from String States
• Chapter 16: Strings in Curved Backgrounds
• Chapter 17: Supersymmetry and Superstrings
• Chapter 18: The Five Superstring Theories
• Chapter 19: D-Branes and Open Strings
• Chapter 20: Compactification and Extra Dimensions
• Chapter 21: T-Duality, S-Duality, and M-Theory
• Chapter 22: String Theory and Black Holes
• Chapter 23: Holography and AdS/CFT
• Chapter 24: The Current Landscape and How to Continue
• Conclusion