Skip to main content

All Questions

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
36 votes
9 answers
18k views

Why does bosonic string theory require 26 spacetime dimensions?

I do not think it is possible really believe or experimentally check (now), but all modern physical doctrines suggest that out world is NOT 4-dimensional, but higher. The least sophisticated ...
Alexander Chervov's user avatar
44 votes
6 answers
12k views

Book on mathematical "rigorous" String Theory?

I've been looking high and low for a mathematical book on String Theory. The only book I could find was "A Mathematical Introduction to String Theory" by Albeverio, Jost, Paycha and ...
51 votes
9 answers
9k views

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Physics in Mathematics. Why ? What/how to catch?

Starting from 80-ies the ideas either coming from physics, or by physicists themselves (e.g. Witten) are shaping many directions in mathematics. It is tempting to paraphrase E. Wigner, saying about "...
36 votes
3 answers
5k views

What are D-branes, really?

In the past couple years, I've read many words pertaining to "D-branes" without feeling I have fully comprehended them. In broad terms, I think I get what they're about: They're supposed to serve as ...
Dan Kneezel's user avatar
  • 1,415
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

Free Boson Correlator $ \langle X(z)X(w) \rangle =- \ln |z - w| $

In physics papers, the massless free boson has a definition involving an action: $$ S(X) = \frac{1}{8\pi} \int d\sigma^2\, \partial X \overline{\partial X}$$ The random functions $X(z)$ are ...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.8k
9 votes
0 answers
321 views

The space-time dimension of the N-superstring theory?

Let $\mathfrak{W}$ be the Lie algebra generated by $d_{n} = ie^{in\theta}\frac{d}{d\theta}$ and $\mathfrak{Vir} = \mathfrak{W} \oplus C \mathbb{C}$ its central extension: $$ [L_m,L_n]=(m-n)L_{m+n}+\...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
4k views

Role for generalized geometries in string theory

What role do generalized geometries (in terms of Dirac structures, for instance, symplectic, Poisson, complex, and generalized complex structures in the sense of Hitchin, Cavalcanti, and Gualtieri) ...
Yaniel Cabrera's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
239 views

GSO (Gliozzi-Scherk-Olive) projection and its Mathematics?

GSO (Gliozzi-Scherk-Olive) projection is an ingredient used in constructing a consistent model in superstring theory. The projection is a selection of a subset of possible vertex operators in the ...
wonderich's user avatar
  • 10.5k
6 votes
1 answer
726 views

Degree-3 curves on the Calabi–Yau quintic

Robbert Dijkgraaf said,1 concerning the simplest Calabi–Yau space, the quintic: "A classical result from the 19th century states that the number of lines — degree-one curves — is equal to 2,875. ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
122 views

GSO projection and $H^d(M, \mathbb{Z}_2)$

This follows up the comment which suggests that asking the later 2nd part of subquestion in "GSO (Gliozzi-Scherk-Olive) projection and its Mathematics" as a new different question GSO (...
wonderich's user avatar
  • 10.5k