Under the Spell of the Gauge Principle

Book excerpt: Few people studying Gauge Field Theory need to be convinced of the importance of the work of 't Hooft. This volume contains a selection of articles and review topics covering his well-known studies on the renormalization of non-Abelian gauge theorems, topological phenomena in gauge field theory and thoughts on the role of black holes in quantum gravity.The chapters are tied together by thoughtful commentaries which provide a background and the illumination of hindsight ? together they form a clear and coherent picture of the physical and theoretical importance of gauge theories and the gauge principle. This book is ideal for students and researchers.Gerard 't Hooft is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. He has taught at Harvard, SLAC and Caltech prior to his present position. Other distinguished honors include being awarded the Dannie Heineman Prize, the Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Chicago, Wolf Prize of the State of Israel, Pius XI Medal (Vatican), and the Lorentz Medal (KNAW, Amsterdam).