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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010312332 | QC794.6.S85 B573 2012 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
String theory is currently the best candidate for a unified theory of all forces and all forms of matter in nature. As such, it has become a focal point for physical and philosophical discussions. This unique book explores the history of the theory's early stages of development, as told by its main protagonists. The book journeys from the first version of the theory (the so-called dual resonance model) in the late sixties, as an attempt to describe the physics of strong interactions outside the framework of quantum field theory, to its reinterpretation around the mid-seventies as a quantum theory of gravity unified with the other forces, and its successive developments up to the superstring revolution in 1984. Providing important background information to current debates on the theory, this book is essential reading for students and researchers in physics, as well as historians and philosophers of science.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
String theory (superstrings) attempts to unite quantum theory and relativity. This book is a collection of 45 essays on the topic. Thirty-eight essays from many of the early researchers recall how and why the field developed from the late 1960s to the early 1980s as the theory underwent several fundamental paradigm shifts. The editors wrote seven introductory essays; they confined the more complex mathematical derivations to the appendixes, but much of the essays' content remains challenging. What shines through is the fascination and persistence of the students and scientists as they answer the siren call of a new, unproven field. Whether or not string theory will unite the quantum and relativistic worlds, these writings capture the excitement of the field and the rigor of the physical and mathematical constructs needed to capture a portion of the universe. General readers will most likely find a better fit in Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe (CH, Jul'99, 36-6332), and students needing a formal introduction might be better served with a standard text, but this book remains uniquely valuable to students preparing to study string theory and those who study the history and philosophy of science. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty in physics and mathematics; historians and philosophers of science. J. R. Burciaga Mount Holyoke College
Table of Contents
| Part I Overview: |
| 1 Introduction and synopsis |
| 2 Rise and fall of the hadronic stringG. Veneziano |
| 3 Gravity, unification, and the superstringJ. H. Schwarz |
| 4 Early string theory as a challenging case study for philosophersE. Castellani |
| Part II The Prehistory: The AnalyticS-Matrix: |
| 5 Introduction to Part II |
| 6 Particle theory in the sixties: from current algebra to the Veneziano amplitudeM. Ademollo |
| 7 The path to the Veneziano modelH. R. Rubinstein |
| 8 Two-component duality and stringsP. G. O. Freund |
| 9 Note on the prehistory of string theoryM. Gell-Mann |
| Part III The Dual Resonance Model: |
| 10 Introduction to Part III |
| 11 From the S-matrix to string theoryP. Di Vecchia |
| 12 Reminiscence on the birth of string theoryJ. A. Shapiro |
| 13 Personal recollectionsD. Amati |
| 14 Early string theory at FermilabRutgers L. Clavelli |
| 15 Dual amplitudes in higher dimensions: a personal viewC. Lovelace |
| 16 Personal recollections on dual modelsR. Musto |
| 17 Remembering the 'supergroup' collaborationF. Nicodemi |
| 18 The '3-Reggeon vertex'S. Sciuto |
| Part IV The String: |
| 19 Introduction to Part IV |
| 20 From dual models to relativistic stringsP. Goddard |
| 21 The first string theory: personal recollectionsL. Susskind |
| 22 The string picture of the Veneziano modelH. B. Nielsen |
| 23 From the S-matrix to string theoryY. Nambu |
| 24 The analogue model for string amplitudesD. B. Fairlie |
| 25 Factorization in dual models and functional integration in string theoryS. Mandelstam |
| 26 The hadronic origins of string theoryR. C. Brower |
| Part V Beyond the Bosonic String: |
| 27 Introduction to Part V |
| 28 From dual fermion to superstringD. I. Olive |
| 29 Dual models with fermions: memoirs of an early string theoristP. Ramond |
| 30 Personal recollectionsA. Neveu |
| 31 Aspects of fermionic dual modelsE. Corrigan |
| 32 The dual quark modelsK. Bardakci and M. B. Halpern |
| 33 Remembering the dawn of relativistic stringsJ.-L. Gervais |
| 34 Early string theory in Cambridge: personal recollectionsC. Montonen |
| Part VI The Superstring: |
| 35 Introduction to Part VI |
| 36 Supersymmetry in string theoryF. Gliozzi |
| 37 Gravity from strings: personal reminiscences of early developmentsT. Yoneya |
| 38 From the Nambu-Goto to the ¿-model actionL. Brink |
| 39 Locally supersymmetric action for superstringP. Di Vecchia |
| 40 Personal recollectionsE. Cremmer |
| 41 The scientific contributions of Joël ScherkJ. H. Schwarz |
| Part VII Preparing the String Renaissance: |
| 42 Introduction to Part VII |
| 43 From strings to superstrings: a personal perspectiveM. B. Green |
| 44 Quarks, strings and beyondA. M. Polyakov |
| 45 The rise of the superstring theoryA. Cappelli and F. Colomo |
| Appendices |
| Index |
