M-Theory and Quantum Geometry

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

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2. D Branes in String Theory, I

   • Paolo Di Vecchia, Antonella Liccardo

   Pages 1-60

3. Moduli Spaces of Calabi-Yau Compactifications

   • Jan Louis

   Pages 61-90

4. The M(Atrix) Model of M-Theory

   • Washington Taylor

   Pages 91-178

5. The Holographic Principle

   • Daniela Bigatti, Leonard Susskind

   Pages 179-226

6. Born-Infeld Actions and D-Brane Physics

   • Curtis G. Callan Jr.

   Pages 227-254

7. Lectures on Superconformal Quantum Mechanics and Multi-Black Hole Moduli Spaces

   • Ruth Britto-Pacumio, Jeremy Michelson, Andrew Strominger, Anastasia Volovich

   Pages 255-284

8. Large-N Gauge Theories

   • Yuri Makeenko

   Pages 285-354

9. Introduction to Random Surfaces

   • Thordur Jonsson

   Pages 355-380

10. Lorentzian and Euclidean Quantum Gravity — Analytical and Numerical Results

    • J. Ambjørn, J. Jurkiewicz, R. Loll

    Pages 381-450

11. Back Matter

    Pages 451-454

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The fundamental structure of matter and spacetime at the shortest length scales remains an exciting frontier of basic research in theoretical physics. A unifying theme in this area is the quantization of geometrical objects. The majority of lectures at the Advanced Study Institute on Quantum Ge­ ometry in Akureyri was on recent advances in superstring theory, which is the leading candidate for a unified description of all known elementary par­ ticles and interactions. The geometric concept of one-dimensional extended objects, or strings, has always been at the core of superstring theory but in recent years the focus has shifted to include also higher-dimensional ob­ jects, so called D-branes, which play a key role in the non-perturbative dynamics of the theory. A related development has seen the strong coupling regime of a given string theory identified with the weak coupling regime of what was previ­ ously believed to be a different theory, and a web of such" dualities" that interrelates all known superstring theories has emerged. The resulting uni­ fied theoretical framework, termed M-theory, has evolved at a rapid pace in recent years.

• elementary particle
• gauge theories
• quantum gravity
• string theory
• strong interaction

• Science Institute, University of Iceland, Iceland

  Lárus Thorlacius, Thordur Jonsson

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