Advertisement
| ictp string school 2017: Not Even Wrong Peter Woit, 2007-03-09 At what point does theory depart the realm of testable hypothesis and come to resemble something like aesthetic speculation, or even theology? The legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli had a phrase for such ideas: He would describe them as not even wrong, meaning that they were so incomplete that they could not even be used to make predictions to compare with observations to see whether they were wrong or not. In Peter Woit's view, superstring theory is just such an idea. In Not Even Wrong , he shows that what many physicists call superstring theory is not a theory at all. It makes no predictions, even wrong ones, and this very lack of falsifiability is what has allowed the subject to survive and flourish. Not Even Wrong explains why the mathematical conditions for progress in physics are entirely absent from superstring theory today and shows that judgments about scientific statements, which should be based on the logical consistency of argument and experimental evidence, are instead based on the eminence of those claiming to know the truth. In the face of many books from enthusiasts for string theory, this book presents the other side of the story. |
| ictp string school 2017: Quantum Theory, Groups and Representations Peter Woit, 2017-11-01 This text systematically presents the basics of quantum mechanics, emphasizing the role of Lie groups, Lie algebras, and their unitary representations. The mathematical structure of the subject is brought to the fore, intentionally avoiding significant overlap with material from standard physics courses in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The level of presentation is attractive to mathematics students looking to learn about both quantum mechanics and representation theory, while also appealing to physics students who would like to know more about the mathematics underlying the subject. This text showcases the numerous differences between typical mathematical and physical treatments of the subject. The latter portions of the book focus on central mathematical objects that occur in the Standard Model of particle physics, underlining the deep and intimate connections between mathematics and the physical world. While an elementary physics course of some kind would be helpful to the reader, no specific background in physics is assumed, making this book accessible to students with a grounding in multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Many exercises are provided to develop the reader's understanding of and facility in quantum-theoretical concepts and calculations. |
| ictp string school 2017: Geometry and Physics Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen, Andrew Dancer, Oscar García-Prada, 2018 Nigel Hitchin is one of the world's foremost figures in the fields of differential and algebraic geometry and their relations with mathematical physics, and he has been Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford since 1997. Geometry and Physics: A Festschrift in honour of Nigel Hitchin contain the proceedings of the conferences held in September 2016 in Aarhus, Oxford, and Madrid to mark Nigel Hitchin's 70th birthday, and to honour his far-reaching contributions to geometry and mathematical physics. These texts contain 29 articles by contributors to the conference and other distinguished mathematicians working in related areas, including three Fields Medallists. The articles cover a broad range of topics in differential, algebraic and symplectic geometry, and also in mathematical physics. These volumes will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in geometry and mathematical physics. |
| ictp string school 2017: Geometry and Physics: Volume I Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen, Andrew Dancer, Oscar García-Prada, 2018-10-18 Nigel Hitchin is one of the world's foremost figures in the fields of differential and algebraic geometry and their relations with mathematical physics, and he has been Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford since 1997. Geometry and Physics: A Festschrift in honour of Nigel Hitchin contain the proceedings of the conferences held in September 2016 in Aarhus, Oxford, and Madrid to mark Nigel Hitchin's 70th birthday, and to honour his far-reaching contributions to geometry and mathematical physics. These texts contain 29 articles by contributors to the conference and other distinguished mathematicians working in related areas, including three Fields Medallists. The articles cover a broad range of topics in differential, algebraic and symplectic geometry, and also in mathematical physics. These volumes will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in geometry and mathematical physics. |
| ictp string school 2017: Why Does the World Exist Jim Holt, 2012-07-17 In this astonishing and profound work, an irreverent sleuth traces the riddleof existence from the ancient world to modern times. |
| ictp string school 2017: Bankrupting Physics Alexander Unzicker, Sheilla Jones, 2013-07-30 An award-winning scientist argues that theoretical physics has become too abstract and calls for science to return to the experimental method The recently celebrated discovery of the Higgs boson has captivated the public's imagination with the promise that it can explain the origins of everything in the universe. It's no wonder that the media refers to it grandly as the God particle. Yet behind closed doors, physicists are admitting that there is much more to this story, and even years of gunning the Large Hadron Collider and herculean number crunching may still not lead to a deep understanding of the laws of nature. In this fascinating and eye-opening account, theoretical physicist Alexander Unzicker and science writer Sheilla Jones offer a polemic. They question whether the large-scale, multinational enterprises actually lead us to the promised land of understanding the universe. The two scientists take us on a tour of contemporary physics and show how a series of highly publicized theories met a dead end. Unzicker and Jones systematically unpack the recent hot theories such as parallel universes, string theory, and inflationary cosmology, and provide an accessible explanation of each. The auhors argue that physics has abandoned its evidence-based roots and shifted to untestable mathematical theories, and they issue a clarion call for the science to return to its experimental foundation. |
| ictp string school 2017: Formulations of General Relativity Kirill Krasnov, 2020-11-26 Carefully documenting the different formulations of general relativity, the author reveals valuable insight into the nature of the gravitational force and its interaction with matter. This book will interest graduate students and researchers in the fields of general relativity, gravitational physics and differential geometry. |
| ictp string school 2017: Topological Field Theory, Primitive Forms and Related Topics A. Kashiwara, A. Matsuo, K. Saito, I. Satake, 2012-12-06 As the interaction of mathematics and theoretical physics continues to intensify, the theories developed in mathematics are being applied to physics, and conversely. This book centers around the theory of primitive forms which currently plays an active and key role in topological field theory (theoretical physics), but was originally developed as a mathematical notion to define a good period mapping for a family of analytic structures. The invited papers in this volume are expository in nature by participants of the Taniguchi Symposium on Topological Field Theory, Primitive Forms and Related Topics and the RIMS Symposium bearing the same title, both held in Kyoto. The papers reflect the broad research of some of the world's leading mathematical physicists, and should serve as an excellent resource for researchers as well as graduate students of both disciplines. |
| ictp string school 2017: Radiation Biology for Medical Physicists C. S. Sureka, Christina Armpilia, 2017-10-16 This book is designed to convey as much information as possible in a concise and simple way to make it suitable for students, researchers and clinical medical physicists. Better meanings, codes and examples are included. Most of the basics are also covered for easy reference along with a glossary of objective-type questions. Upon completion of this textbook, the readers will gather knowledge about the physics, chemistry and biology of the human body towards cancer treatment using radiation. |
| ictp string school 2017: Basics of Thermal Field Theory Mikko Laine, Aleksi Vuorinen, 2016-06-12 This book presents thermal field theory techniques, which can be applied in both cosmology and the theoretical description of the QCD plasma generated in heavy-ion collision experiments. It focuses on gauge interactions (whether weak or strong), which are essential in both contexts. As well as the many differences in the physics questions posed and in the microscopic forces playing a central role, the authors also explain the similarities and the techniques, such as the resummations, that are needed for developing a formally consistent perturbative expansion. The formalism is developed step by step, starting from quantum mechanics; introducing scalar, fermionic and gauge fields; describing the issues of infrared divergences; resummations and effective field theories; and incorporating systems with finite chemical potentials. With this machinery in place, the important class of real-time (dynamic) observables is treated in some detail. This is followed by an overview of a number of applications, ranging from the study of phase transitions and particle production rate computations, to the concept of transport and damping coefficients that play a ubiquitous role in current developments. The book serves as a self-contained textbook on relativistic thermal field theory for undergraduate and graduate students of theoretical high-energy physics. |
| ictp string school 2017: Integrability, Quantization, and Geometry: I. Integrable Systems Sergey Novikov, Igor Krichever, Oleg Ogievetsky, Senya Shlosman, 2021-04-12 This book is a collection of articles written in memory of Boris Dubrovin (1950–2019). The authors express their admiration for his remarkable personality and for the contributions he made to mathematical physics. For many of the authors, Dubrovin was a friend, colleague, inspiring mentor, and teacher. The contributions to this collection of papers are split into two parts: “Integrable Systems” and “Quantum Theories and Algebraic Geometry”, reflecting the areas of main scientific interests of Dubrovin. Chronologically, these interests may be divided into several parts: integrable systems, integrable systems of hydrodynamic type, WDVV equations (Frobenius manifolds), isomonodromy equations (flat connections), and quantum cohomology. The articles included in the first part are more or less directly devoted to these areas (primarily with the first three listed above). The second part contains articles on quantum theories and algebraic geometry and is less directly connected with Dubrovin's early interests. |
| ictp string school 2017: Comprehensive Nuclear Materials , 2020-07-22 Materials in a nuclear environment are exposed to extreme conditions of radiation, temperature and/or corrosion, and in many cases the combination of these makes the material behavior very different from conventional materials. This is evident for the four major technological challenges the nuclear technology domain is facing currently: (i) long-term operation of existing Generation II nuclear power plants, (ii) the design of the next generation reactors (Generation IV), (iii) the construction of the ITER fusion reactor in Cadarache (France), (iv) and the intermediate and final disposal of nuclear waste. In order to address these challenges, engineers and designers need to know the properties of a wide variety of materials under these conditions and to understand the underlying processes affecting changes in their behavior, in order to assess their performance and to determine the limits of operation. Comprehensive Nuclear Materials, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set provides broad ranging, validated summaries of all the major topics in the field of nuclear material research for fission as well as fusion reactor systems. Attention is given to the fundamental scientific aspects of nuclear materials: fuel and structural materials for fission reactors, waste materials, and materials for fusion reactors. The articles are written at a level that allows undergraduate students to understand the material, while providing active researchers with a ready reference resource of information. Most of the chapters from the first Edition have been revised and updated and a significant number of new topics are covered in completely new material. During the ten years between the two editions, the challenge for applications of nuclear materials has been significantly impacted by world events, public awareness, and technological innovation. Materials play a key role as enablers of new technologies, and we trust that this new edition of Comprehensive Nuclear Materials has captured the key recent developments. Critically reviews the major classes and functions of materials, supporting the selection, assessment, validation and engineering of materials in extreme nuclear environments Comprehensive resource for up-to-date and authoritative information which is not always available elsewhere, even in journals Provides an in-depth treatment of materials modeling and simulation, with a specific focus on nuclear issues Serves as an excellent entry point for students and researchers new to the field |
| ictp string school 2017: Selected Papers of Abdus Salam Abdus Salam, Ahmed Ali, 1994 This is a selection from over 250 papers published by Abdus Salam. Professor Salam has been Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London and Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, for which he was largely responsible for creating. He is one of the most distinguished theoretical physicists of his generation and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979 for his work on the unification of electromagnetic and weak interactions. He is well known for his deep interest in the development of scientific research in the third world (to which ICTP is devoted) and has taken a leading part in setting up the Third World Academy. His research work has ranged widely over quantum field theory and all aspects of the theory of elementary particles and more recently into other fields, including high-temperature superconductivity and theoretical biology. The papers selected represent a cross section of his work covering the entire period of 50 years from his student days to the present. |
| ictp string school 2017: Why String Theory? Joseph Conlon, 2017-08-02 Physics World's 'Book of the Year' for 2016 An Entertaining and Enlightening Guide to the Who, What, and Why of String Theory, now also available in an updated reflowable electronic format compatible with mobile devices and e-readers. During the last 50 years, numerous physicists have tried to unravel the secrets of string theory. Yet why do these scientists work on a theory lacking experimental confirmation? Why String Theory? provides the answer, offering a highly readable and accessible panorama of the who, what, and why of this large aspect of modern theoretical physics. The author, a theoretical physics professor at the University of Oxford and a leading string theorist, explains what string theory is and where it originated. He describes how string theory fits into physics and why so many physicists and mathematicians find it appealing when working on topics from M-theory to monsters and from cosmology to superconductors. |
| ictp string school 2017: Space, Time and the Limits of Human Understanding Shyam Wuppuluri, Giancarlo Ghirardi, 2016-12-01 In this compendium of essays, some of the world’s leading thinkers discuss their conceptions of space and time, as viewed through the lens of their own discipline. With an epilogue on the limits of human understanding, this volume hosts contributions from six or more diverse fields. It presumes only rudimentary background knowledge on the part of the reader. Time and again, through the prism of intellect, humans have tried to diffract reality into various distinct, yet seamless, atomic, yet holistic, independent, yet interrelated disciplines and have attempted to study it contextually. Philosophers debate the paradoxes, or engage in meditations, dialogues and reflections on the content and nature of space and time. Physicists, too, have been trying to mold space and time to fit their notions concerning micro- and macro-worlds. Mathematicians focus on the abstract aspects of space, time and measurement. While cognitive scientists ponder over the perceptual and experiential facets of our consciousness of space and time, computer scientists theoretically and practically try to optimize the space-time complexities in storing and retrieving data/information. The list is never-ending. Linguists, logicians, artists, evolutionary biologists, geographers etc., all are trying to weave a web of understanding around the same duo. However, our endeavour into a world of such endless imagination is restrained by intellectual dilemmas such as: Can humans comprehend everything? Are there any limits? Can finite thought fathom infinity? We have sought far and wide among the best minds to furnish articles that provide an overview of the above topics. We hope that, through this journey, a symphony of patterns and tapestry of intuitions will emerge, providing the reader with insights into the questions: What is Space? What is Time? Chapter [15] of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. |
| ictp string school 2017: Geometry and Analysis Lizhen Ji, 2011 Contains parts 1 and 2 of a collection of papers presented by speakers at the conference Geometric Analysis: Present and Future, held at Harvard University in 2008. Among the speakers were Edward Witten, Yum-Tong Siu, Richard Hamilton, Nigel Hitchin, Blaine Lawson and Andrew Strominger. |
| ictp string school 2017: Weigh Them All! Sunny Vagnozzi, 2020-08-13 The three neutrinos are ghostly elementary particles that exist all across the Universe. Though every second billions of them fly through us, they are extremely hard to detect. We used to think they had no mass, but recently discovered that in fact they have a tiny mass. The quest for the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering (specifying how the three masses are distributed) is an extremely exciting one, and will open the door towards new physics operating at energy scales we can only ever dream of reaching on Earth. This thesis explores the use of measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (the oldest light reaching us, a snapshot of the infant Universe) and maps of millions of galaxies to go after the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering. Neutrinos might teach us something about the mysterious dark energy powering the accelerated expansion of the Universe, or about cosmic inflation, which seeded the initial conditions for the Universe. Though extremely baffling, neutrinos are also an exceptionally exciting area of research, and cosmological observations promise to reveal a great deal about these elusive particles in the coming years. |
| ictp string school 2017: Mirror Symmetry III Duong H. Phong, Luc Vinet, Shing-Tung Yau, 1998 This volume presents surveys from a workshop held during the theme year in geometry and topology at the Centre de recherches mathematiques (CRM, University of Montreal, Canada). The volume is in some senses a sequel to Mirror Symmetry I (1998) and Mirror Symmetry II (1996), co-published by the AMS and International Press. It is intended for graduate students, research mathematicians and physicists working in mathematics and theoretical physics, especially in algebraic or complex geometry or conformal field theory |
| ictp string school 2017: Genius at Play Siobhan Roberts, 2024-10-29 A multifaceted biography of a brilliant mathematician and iconoclast A mathematician unlike any other, John Horton Conway (1937–2020) possessed a rock star’s charisma, a polymath’s promiscuous curiosity, and a sly sense of humor. Conway found fame as a barefoot professor at Cambridge, where he discovered the Conway groups in mathematical symmetry and the aptly named surreal numbers. He also invented the cult classic Game of Life, a cellular automaton that demonstrates how simplicity generates complexity—and provides an analogy for mathematics and the entire universe. Moving to Princeton in 1987, Conway used ropes, dice, pennies, coat hangers, and the occasional Slinky to illustrate his winning imagination and share his nerdish delights. Genius at Play tells the story of this ambassador-at-large for the beauties and joys of mathematics, lays bare Conway’s personal and professional idiosyncrasies, and offers an intimate look into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s most endearing and original intellectuals. |
| ictp string school 2017: When Form Becomes Substance Luciano Boi, Carlos Lobo, 2022-11-30 This interdisciplinary volume collects contributions from experts in their respective fields with as common theme diagrams. Diagrams play a fundamental role in the mathematical visualization and philosophical analysis of forms in space. Some of the most interesting and profound recent developments in contemporary sciences, whether in topology, geometry, dynamic systems theory, quantum field theory or string theory, have been made possible by the introduction of new types of diagrams, which, in addition to their essential role in the discovery of new classes of spaces and phenomena, have contributed to enriching and clarifying the meaning of the operations, structures and properties that are at the heart of these spaces and phenomena. The volume gives a closer look at the scope and the nature of diagrams as constituents of mathematical and physical thought, their function in contemporary artistic work, and appraise, in particular, the actual importance of the diagrams of knots, of braids, of fields, of interaction, of strings in topology and geometry, in quantum physics and in cosmology, but also in theory of perception, in plastic arts and in philosophy. The editors carefully curated this volume to be an inspiration to students and researchers in philosophy, phenomenology, mathematics and the sciences, as well as artists, musicians and the general interested audience. |
| ictp string school 2017: Love and Math Edward Frenkel, 2014-09-09 An awesome, globe-spanning, and New York Times bestselling journey through the beauty and power of mathematics What if you had to take an art class in which you were only taught how to paint a fence? What if you were never shown the paintings of van Gogh and Picasso, weren't even told they existed? Alas, this is how math is taught, and so for most of us it becomes the intellectual equivalent of watching paint dry. In Love and Math, renowned mathematician Edward Frenkel reveals a side of math we've never seen, suffused with all the beauty and elegance of a work of art. In this heartfelt and passionate book, Frenkel shows that mathematics, far from occupying a specialist niche, goes to the heart of all matter, uniting us across cultures, time, and space. Love and Math tells two intertwined stories: of the wonders of mathematics and of one young man's journey learning and living it. Having braved a discriminatory educational system to become one of the twenty-first century's leading mathematicians, Frenkel now works on one of the biggest ideas to come out of math in the last 50 years: the Langlands Program. Considered by many to be a Grand Unified Theory of mathematics, the Langlands Program enables researchers to translate findings from one field to another so that they can solve problems, such as Fermat's last theorem, that had seemed intractable before. At its core, Love and Math is a story about accessing a new way of thinking, which can enrich our lives and empower us to better understand the world and our place in it. It is an invitation to discover the magic hidden universe of mathematics. |
| ictp string school 2017: The Conceptual Framework of Quantum Field Theory Anthony Duncan, 2012-08-09 The book attempts to provide an introduction to quantum field theory emphasizing conceptual issues frequently neglected in more utilitarian treatments of the subject. The book is divided into four parts, entitled respectively Origins, Dynamics, Symmetries, and Scales. The emphasis is conceptual - the aim is to build the theory up systematically from some clearly stated foundational concepts - and therefore to a large extent anti-historical, but two historical Chapters (Origins) are included to situate quantum field theory in the larger context of modern physical theories. The three remaining sections of the book follow a step by step reconstruction of this framework beginning with just a few basic assumptions: relativistic invariance, the basic principles of quantum mechanics, and the prohibition of physical action at a distance embodied in the clustering principle. The Dynamics section of the book lays out the basic structure of quantum field theory arising from the sequential insertion of quantum-mechanical, relativistic and locality constraints. The central role of symmetries in relativistic quantum field theories is explored in the third section of the book, while in the final section, entitled Scales, we explore in detail the feature of quantum field theories most critical for their enormous phenomenological success - the scale separation property embodied by the renormalization group properties of a theory defined by an effective local Lagrangian. |
| ictp string school 2017: String Theory Research Progress Ferenc N. Balogh, 2008 String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point particles that form the basis for the standard model of particle physics. The phrase is often used as shorthand for Superstring theory, as well as related theories such as M-theory. By replacing the point-like particles with strings, an apparently consistent quantum theory of gravity emerges. Moreover, it may be possible to 'unify' the known natural forces (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear) by describing them with the same set of equations. Studies of string theory have revealed that it predicts higher-dimensional objects called branes. String theory strongly suggests the existence of ten or eleven (in M-theory) space-time dimensions, as opposed to the usual four (three spatial and one temporal) used in relativity theory. |
| ictp string school 2017: Grassmannian Geometry of Scattering Amplitudes Nima Arkani-Hamed, Jacob Bourjaily, Freddy Cachazo, Alexander Goncharov, Alexander Postnikov, Jaroslav Trnka, 2016-05-05 Outlining a revolutionary reformulation of the foundations of perturbative quantum field theory, this book is a self-contained and authoritative analysis of the application of this new formulation to the case of planar, maximally supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory. The book begins by deriving connections between scattering amplitudes and Grassmannian geometry from first principles before introducing novel physical and mathematical ideas in a systematic manner accessible to both physicists and mathematicians. The principle players in this process are on-shell functions which are closely related to certain sub-strata of Grassmannian manifolds called positroids - in terms of which the classification of on-shell functions and their relations becomes combinatorially manifest. This is an essential introduction to the geometry and combinatorics of the positroid stratification of the Grassmannian and an ideal text for advanced students and researchers working in the areas of field theory, high energy physics, and the broader fields of mathematical physics. |
| ictp string school 2017: Super Field Theories H.C. Lee, V. Elias, G. Kunstatter, R.B. Mann, K.S. Viswanathan, 2012-12-06 The Super Field Theory Workshop, held at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada July 25 - August 5, 1986 was originally intended to be a sequel to the 1983 Chalk River Workshop on Kaluza-Klein Theories and the 1985 Workshop on Quantum Field Theories held at the University of Western Ontario. The scope of the workshop was therefore not to be very big, with a program of about 20 papers, an anticipated 30 to 45 participants, and with much time scheduled for discussion and personal contact. These goals were soon changed in the face of wide interest in the workshop, both for participation and for giving talks, so that the workshop materialized with about 90 participants and 40 talks. This volume contains the texts, some considerably expanded from the oral version, of most of the talks pre sented at the workshop. Not included are a few talks whose manuscripts were not made available to the editors. In the last few years the subject of particle physics and unified field theory has developed in a way not witnessed in the last fifty years: a confluence with mathematics, especially in geometry, topology and algebra at an advanced level. This has vastly expanded the horizon of the disci pline and heightened the expectation that a true understanding of the fun damental laws of physics may soon be within reach. Most aspects of this new development are covered, many in pedagogical detail, by articles in this volume. |
| ictp string school 2017: Foundations of Modern Physics Steven Weinberg, 2021-04-22 Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg explains the foundations of modern physics in historical context for undergraduates and beyond. |
| ictp string school 2017: Quantum Field Theory Mark Srednicki, 2007-01-25 Quantum field theory is the basic mathematical framework that is used to describe elementary particles. This textbook provides a complete and essential introduction to the subject. Assuming only an undergraduate knowledge of quantum mechanics and special relativity, this book is ideal for graduate students beginning the study of elementary particles. The step-by-step presentation begins with basic concepts illustrated by simple examples, and proceeds through historically important results to thorough treatments of modern topics such as the renormalization group, spinor-helicity methods for quark and gluon scattering, magnetic monopoles, instantons, supersymmetry, and the unification of forces. The book is written in a modular format, with each chapter as self-contained as possible, and with the necessary prerequisite material clearly identified. It is based on a year-long course given by the author and contains extensive problems, with password protected solutions available to lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521864497. |
| ictp string school 2017: Bruno Touschek 100 Years Luisa Bonolis, Luciano Maiani, Giulia Pancheri, 2023-04-18 This open access book celebrates the contribution of Bruno Touschek to theoretical physics and particle colliders in Europe. It contains direct testimonials from his former students, collaborators, and eminent scientists, among them, two Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Giorgio Parisi and Carlo Rubbia. It reviews the main developments in theoretical and accelerator physics in the second half of the twentieth century, while at the same time providing an overview of future prospects worldwide. This book is unique in that it will be of interest to historians of physics and also to the younger generation of researchers. Through the contribution of the leading protagonists, the interested scholar will learn about the past, present status, and relevance of both theoretical and experimental accelerator physics. The overview of Bruno Touschek’s life and works across Europe, from pre-war Vienna to Germany, the UK, Italy, and France, adds a human dimension to the scientific narration, while the open access status makes this laudatory book available to anyone with interest. |
| ictp string school 2017: Introduction to Effective Field Theory C. P. Burgess, 2020-12-10 This advanced, accessible textbook on effective field theories uses worked examples to bring this important topic to a wider audience. |
| ictp string school 2017: Veldman v. City of Grand Rapids, 275 MICH 100 (1936) , 1936 48 |
| ictp string school 2017: Only the Longest Threads Tasneem Zehra Husain, 2014-10-29 Part fiction, part overview of 'Aha!' moments in the forward march of physics, Only the Longest Threads takes readers dramatically through scientific fields such as quantum field theory, electromagnetism, relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory. Each idea or concept is explored in an inventive chapter, each told from a different first-person narrator; the faux emails, letters, and diary entries take place from 1728 to the present day.—Boing Boing, The Best Books for Nerds from 2014 Science is done by real human beings, with human concerns. Only the Longest Threads tells a story that conveys the human side of science in a way that is as moving as it is accurate.—Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at Caltech and author of The Particle at the End of the Universe Only the Longest Threads will thrill readers with its dramatic and lucid accounts of the great breakthroughs in the history of physics—classical mechanics, electromagnetism, relativity, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and string theory, each from the viewpoint of a (fictional) witness to the events. Tasneem Zehra Husain re-imagines the pivotal moments in the history of physics when radical new theories shifted our perception of the universe, and our place in it. Husain immerses the reader in the immediacy and excitement of the discoveries—and she guides us as we begin to understand the underlying science and to grasp the revolutionary step forward each of these milestones represents. Tasneem Zehra Husain writes lyrically, poetically about life, love, and physics. I highly recommend this wonderful book for anyone interested in what physics, and indeed all of science, is about. She masterfully describes the most momentous moments in physics history with verve and talent.—Amir D. Aczel, bestselling author of Fermat’s Last Theorem A delightful meditation on the development of modern physics, culminating in the discovery of the Higgs. Husain follows the thread of its creation through a dialog between a journalist and young theory student, and as seen through the eyes of witnesses.—John Huth, Donner Professor of Science, Harvard University Well-written and cleverly constructed, this book takes us on a journey through the history of physics as a series of fictional adventures, loosely linked by another fiction, the storytellers' emails to each other. Some books are praised because 'I couldn’t put it down,' but this one merits a deeper reading, one that stops, muses on, and savors each story before going on to the next. Each one captures not only the emergence of a significant idea in physics, but also something of the characters, culture, and times surrounding that development. So take your time, pause to ponder, but persevere, you will be well rewarded!—Helen R. Quinn, Physicist, Science Educator, and co-author of The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter, Professor Emeritus SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory How do theoretical physicists think? Tasneem Zehra Husain knows. She knows their purpose, feels their passions, articulates their frustrations, shares their triumphs. Through the device of fiction Only the Longest Threads communicates the history of physical thought—its roots in inquisitiveness and essential disinterest in outcome—with greater clarity than any popular science text.—Michael Duff FRS, Abdus Salam Professor of Theoretical Physics, Imperial College London An artfully constructed journey through space and time.—Freddy Cachazo, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Husain skillfully weaves a poetic tapestry.—Joseph Mazur, author of Enlightening Symbols |
| ictp string school 2017: Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Contemporary Problems in Mathematical Physics Jan Govaerts, M. Norbert Hounkonnou, Alfred Z. Msezane, 2006 The COPROMAPH Conference series has now evolved into a significant international arena where fundamental concepts in mathematical and theoretical physics and their applications can be conceived, developed and disseminated. The contributions in this volume address a variety of contemporary problems in mathematical and theoretical physics. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Representation Theory in Classical and Quantum Physics (1,822 KB). Contents: Plenary Lectures: Representation Theory in Classical and Quantum Physics (J-P Antoine); Lectures on the Gauge Theory/Gravity Correspondence (R de Mello Koch); Introductory and Fundamental Mathematical Aspects of Supersymmetry (S J Gates, Jr); Theoretical Methods of Modern Classical and Quantum Physics: Bosonization of the Schwinger Model by Noncommutative Chiral Bosons (J Ben Geloun et al.); Bol Loops as a New Approach in Physics (Th B Bouetou); Random Phase Approximation with Exchange for the Inner-Shell Electron Photoionization (Z Chen & A Z Msezane); Coherent States, Wavelets, Functional Analysis and Orthogonal Polynomials: The Beta-Geometric Model Applied to Fecundability in a Sample of Married Women (D B Adekanmbi & T A Bamiduro); On the Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions to the Thermal Filtration Model (F B Agusto & O M Bamigbola); Application of the Adomian Decomposition Method to Solve the Duffing Equation and Comparison with the Perturbation Method (G Bissanga); and other papers. Readership: Researchers, academics and graduate students in mathematical physics, theoretical physics and materials science. |
| ictp string school 2017: Questioning the Foundations of Physics Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster, Zeeya Merali, 2015-01-24 The essays in this book look at way in which the fundaments of physics might need to be changed in order to make progress towards a unified theory. They are based on the prize-winning essays submitted to the FQXi essay competition “Which of Our Basic Physical Assumptions Are Wrong?”, which drew over 270 entries. As Nobel Laureate physicist Philip W. Anderson realized, the key to understanding nature’s reality is not anything “magical”, but the right attitude, “the focus on asking the right questions, the willingness to try (and to discard) unconventional answers, the sensitive ear for phoniness, self-deception, bombast, and conventional but unproven assumptions.” The authors of the eighteen prize-winning essays have, where necessary, adapted their essays for the present volume so as to (a) incorporate the community feedback generated in the online discussion of the essays, (b) add new material that has come to light since their completion and (c) to ensure accessibility to a broad audience of readers with a basic grounding in physics. The Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi, catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources. |
| ictp string school 2017: Geometry of Lie Groups B. Rosenfeld, Bill Wiebe, 1997-02-28 This book is the result of many years of research in Non-Euclidean Geometries and Geometry of Lie groups, as well as teaching at Moscow State University (1947- 1949), Azerbaijan State University (Baku) (1950-1955), Kolomna Pedagogical Col lege (1955-1970), Moscow Pedagogical University (1971-1990), and Pennsylvania State University (1990-1995). My first books on Non-Euclidean Geometries and Geometry of Lie groups were written in Russian and published in Moscow: Non-Euclidean Geometries (1955) [Ro1] , Multidimensional Spaces (1966) [Ro2] , and Non-Euclidean Spaces (1969) [Ro3]. In [Ro1] I considered non-Euclidean geometries in the broad sense, as geometry of simple Lie groups, since classical non-Euclidean geometries, hyperbolic and elliptic, are geometries of simple Lie groups of classes Bn and D , and geometries of complex n and quaternionic Hermitian elliptic and hyperbolic spaces are geometries of simple Lie groups of classes An and en. [Ro1] contains an exposition of the geometry of classical real non-Euclidean spaces and their interpretations as hyperspheres with identified antipodal points in Euclidean or pseudo-Euclidean spaces, and in projective and conformal spaces. Numerous interpretations of various spaces different from our usual space allow us, like stereoscopic vision, to see many traits of these spaces absent in the usual space. |
| ictp string school 2017: What Is Real? Adam Becker, 2018-03-20 A thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science. --New York Times Book Review An Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review Longlisted for PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing Longlisted for Goodreads Choice Award Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's solipsistic and poorly reasoned Copenhagen interpretation. Indeed, questioning it has long meant professional ruin, yet some daring physicists, such as John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett, persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth. An excellent, accessible account. --Wall Street Journal Splendid. . . . Deeply detailed research, accompanied by charming anecdotes about the scientists. --Washington Post |
| ictp string school 2017: Geometry and Physics Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen, Andrew Dancer, Oscar García-Prada, 2018 Nigel Hitchin is one of the world's foremost figures in the fields of differential and algebraic geometry and their relations with mathematical physics, and he has been Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford since 1997. Geometry and Physics: A Festschrift in honour of Nigel Hitchin contain the proceedings of the conferences held in September 2016 in Aarhus, Oxford, and Madrid to mark Nigel Hitchin's 70th birthday, and to honour his far-reaching contributions to geometry and mathematical physics. These texts contain 29 articles by contributors to the conference and other distinguished mathematicians working in related areas, including three Fields Medallists. The articles cover a broad range of topics in differential, algebraic and symplectic geometry, and also in mathematical physics. These volumes will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in geometry and mathematical physics. |
| ictp string school 2017: Cosmological Probes of Light Relics Benjamin Wallisch, 2019-11-20 The wealth of recent cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure data has transformed the field of cosmology. These observations have not only become precise enough to answer questions about the universe on the largest scales, but also to address puzzles in the microscopic description of Nature. This thesis investigates new ways of probing the early universe, the properties of neutrinos and the possible existence of other light particles. In particular, based on detailed theoretical insights and novel analyses, new evidence for the cosmic neutrino background is found in the distribution of galaxies and in cosmic microwave background data. This tests the Standard Model of particle physics and the universe back to a time when it was about one second old. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that future observations will be capable of probing physics beyond the Standard Model since they can achieve a particular target which would either allow the detection of any light particles that have ever been in thermal equilibrium or imply strong bounds on their properties. |
| ictp string school 2017: Quantum Field Theory of Many-Body Systems Xiao-Gang Wen, 2004-06-04 For most of the last century, condensed matter physics has been dominated by band theory and Landau's symmetry breaking theory. In the last twenty years, however, there has been the emergence of a new paradigm associated with fractionalisation, topological order, emergent gauge bosons and fermions, and string condensation. These new physical concepts are so fundamental that they may even influence our understanding of the origin of light and fermions in the universe. This book is a pedagogical and systematic introduction to the new concepts and quantum field theoretical methods (which have fuelled the rapid developments) in condensed matter physics. It discusses many basic notions in theoretical physics which underlie physical phenomena in nature. Topics covered are dissipative quantum systems, boson condensation, symmetry breaking and gapless excitations, phase transitions, Fermi liquids, spin density wave states, Fermi and fractional statistics, quantum Hall effects, topological and quantum order, spin liquids, and string condensation. Methods covered are the path integral, Green's functions, mean-field theory, effective theory, renormalization group, bosonization in one- and higher dimensions, non-linear sigma-model, quantum gauge theory, dualities, slave-boson theory, and exactly soluble models beyond one-dimension. This book is aimed at teaching graduate students and bringing them to the frontiers of research in condensed matter physics. |
| ictp string school 2017: Optical Methods in Biology Elizabeth M. Slayter, 1976 |
| ictp string school 2017: Foundations of Astrophysics Barbara Ryden, Bradley M. Peterson, 2020-08-27 A contemporary and complete introduction to astrophysics for astronomy and physics majors taking a two-semester survey course. |
Home | ICTP
ICTP is a unique institution that explores fundamental scientific questions at the highest level, promotes active engagement with …
Who We Are - ICTP
For more than 60 years, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) has been a driving force behind global efforts to …
Opportunities Overview - ICTP
Scientists at all stages of their careers can advance their knowledge in physics and mathematics through ICTP's education and training programmes. …
Scientific calendar - ICTP
Discover ICTP's education and training programmes in high energy, cosmology and astroparticle physics
Master's Degree Programmes - ICTP
ICTP Offers a Range of Graduate Degree Opportunities Next ICTP, in collaboration with local universities, offers study opportunities to …
Home | ICTP
ICTP is a unique institution that explores fundamental scientific questions at the highest level, promotes active engagement with scientists in developing countries, and advances …
Who We Are - ICTP
For more than 60 years, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) has been a driving force behind global efforts to advance scientific expertise in the developing world.
Opportunities Overview - ICTP
Scientists at all stages of their careers can advance their knowledge in physics and mathematics through ICTP's education and training programmes. These include pre-PhD programmes that …
Scientific calendar - ICTP
Discover ICTP's education and training programmes in high energy, cosmology and astroparticle physics
Master's Degree Programmes - ICTP
ICTP Offers a Range of Graduate Degree Opportunities Next ICTP, in collaboration with local universities, offers study opportunities to scientists from the developing world, helping them …
Salam Distinguished Lectures 2025 | ICTP
Jan 27, 2025 · Discover ICTP's education and training programmes in high energy, cosmology and astroparticle physics
ICTP Postgraduate Diploma Programme
Oct 29, 2024 · Supporting its mission to promote advanced scientific research in developing countries, ICTP offers a Postgraduate Diploma Programme that prepares talented students for …
High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics | ICTP
Discover ICTP's education and training programmes in high energy, cosmology and astroparticle physics
Earth System Physics - ICTP
Discover ICTP's education and training programmes in high energy, cosmology and astroparticle physics
ICTP - Application and Admission
ICTP is governed by UNESCO, IAEA, and Italy, and is a UNESCO Category 1 Institute
