Home Page of the RIT (Research Interaction Team) on
Superstring Theory and Related Mathematics

Meeting Time (Spring 2007, effective Feb. 14): Room MTH 2300, Wednesdays at 10:00 AM

Meeting Time (Fall 2006): Room MTH 1311, Mondays at 4:15 PM

Directors:

• Jim Gates, Physics Department.
  email gatess@wam.umd.edu, phone 301-405-6025
• Jonathan Rosenberg, Mathematics Department.
  email jmr@math.umd.edu, phone 301-405-5166

Research Focus

The topics discussed will be interdisciplinary, and involve significant interaction between mathematics and physics. In fact, this is probably the field in which there is greatest interaction between mathematicians and physicists. Relevant topics include supersymmetry, conformal, complex, and algebraic geometry, mirror symmetry, topology, and index theory. For the general philosophy of RITs, see here.

Plan of Meetings

Fall, 2006

As agreed at the organizational meeting on September 11, we will begin with five introductory lectures on topics that are of interest to many of the participants. These will be at a very general level, aimed at non-experts. After that, we may have groups report on some of these areas in greater depth.

Spring, 2007

The topic for Spring 2007 will be an introduction to mirror symmetry, following parts of Mirror Symmetry, by Vafa, Zaslow et al. We will begin with Ch. 12 and Ch. 16, then move on to Ch. 20, filling in missing backround as needed.

A Few Links

• The NOVA program on string theory from a few years ago. Includes some interviews with Professor Gates.
• The arxiv preprint server for new papers on fundamental particle theory. Almost anything currently being done in string theory appears here.
• A recorded public lecture by Ed Witten (1998) on "Duality, Spacetime and Quantum Mechanics".
• A recorded public lecture by Sir Michael Atiyah (2005) on "The Nature of Space".
• A review in the New York Times (9/17/06) by Tom Siegfried of two recent critiques of string theory.
• "The Universe on a String", an op-ed piece (10/20/06) by Brian Greene in the New York Times.

Suggested Background

For those who want to participate, here is some suggested background.

• For undergraduates: Some 400-level MATH and/or PHYS courses. For treatment of the subject at a level suitable for undergraduates, see the NOVA website above, especially the suggestions for further reading.
• For MATH graduate students: graduate-level geometry/topology (MATH 730/734). Additional geometry courses, such as MATH 740 (Riemannian geometry) or MATH 606/607 (algebraic geometry) are useful, as is any background in Lie groups (MATH 636 and/or 744) or functional analysis (MATH 632).
• For PHYS graduate students: graduate-level Lagrangian mechanics and quantum mechanics (PHYS 601, 622/623/624). Relativity (PHYS 675), or fundamental particle theory or string theory (PHYS 711, 751/752, 851/852, 859) is useful but not required.