Mathematical Perspectives on Theoretical Physics

Book excerpt: This book presents the basics of mathematics that are needed for learning the physics of today. It describes briefly the theories of groups and operators, finite- and infinite-dimensional algebras, concepts of symmetry and supersymmetry, and then delineates their relations to theories of relativity and black holes, classical and quantum physics, electroweak fields and Yang-Mills. It concludes with a chapter on (the complex theory of) strings and superstrings and their link to black holes — an idea that fascinates both the physicist and the mathematician. Contents:Complex Functions, Riemann Surfaces and Two-Dimensional Conformal Field Theory (an Introduction)Elements of Group Theory and Group RepresentationsA Primer on OperatorsBasics of Algebras and Related ConceptsInfinite-Dimensional AlgebrasThe Role of Symmetry in Physics and MathematicsAll That's Super — An IntroductionGravitation, Relativity and Black HolesBasics of Quantum TheoryTheory of Yang–Mills and the Yang–Mills–Higgs MechanismStrings and Superstrings (Elementary Aspects) Readership: Upper level undergraduates, graduate students, lecturers and researchers in theoretical physics, mathematical physics, quantum physics and astrophysics as well as Yang-Mills and superstring theory.