Understanding the dynamics of gauge theories is crucial, given the fact that all known interactions are based on the principle of local gauge symmetry. Beyond the perturbative regime, however, this is a notoriously difficult problem. Requiring invariance under supersymmetry turns out to be a suitable tool for analyzing supersymmetric gauge theories over a larger region of the space of parameters. Supersymmetric quantum field theories in four dimensions with extended N=2 supersymmetry are further constrained and have therefore been a fertile field of research in theoretical physics for quite some time. Moreover, there are far-reaching mathematical ramifications that have led to a successful dialogue with differential and algebraic geometry. These lecture notes aim to introduce students of modern theoretical physics to the fascinating developments in the understanding of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories in a coherent fashion. Starting with a gentle introduction to electric-magnetic duality, the author guides readers through the key milestones in the field, which include the work of Seiberg and Witten, Nekrasov, Gaiotto and many others. As an advanced graduate level text, it assumes that readers have a working knowledge of supersymmetry including the formalism of superfields, as well as of quantum field theory techniques such as regularization, renormalization and anomalies. After his graduation from the University of Tokyo, Yuji Tachikawa worked at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and the Kavli Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. Presently at the Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tachikawa is the author of several important papers in supersymmetric quantum field theories and string theory.

This book reviews a number of spectacular advances that have been made in the study of supersymmetric quantum field theories in the last few years. Highlights include exact calculations of Wilson loop expectation values, and highly nontrivial quantitative checks of the long-standing electric-magnetic duality conjectures The book starts with an introductory article presenting a survey of recent advances, aimed at a wide audience with a background and interest in theoretical physics. The following articles are written for advanced students and researchers in quantum field theory, string theory and mathematical physics, our goal being to familiarize these readers with the forefront of current research. The topics covered include recent advances in the classification and vacuum structure of large families of N=2 supersymmetric field theories, followed by an extensive discussion of the localisation method, one of the most powerful tools for exact studies of supersymmetric field theories. The quantities that have been studied in this way are partition functions, expectation values of line operators, and supersymmetric indices. The book also reviews recently discovered connections between SUSY field theories in four dimensions and two-dimensional conformal field theory. These connections have a counterpart in relations between three-dimensional gauge theories and Chern-Simons theory; the book’s closing chapters explore connections with string theory.

This book introduces two-dimensional supersymmetric field theories with emphasis on both linear and non-linear sigma models. Complex differential geometry, in connection with supersymmetry, has played a key role in most developments of the last thirty years in quantum field theory and string theory. Both structures introduce a great deal of rigidity compared to the more general categories of non-supersymmetric theories and real differential geometry, allowing for many general conceptual results and detailed quantitative predictions. Two-dimensional (0,2) supersymmetric quantum field theories provide a natural arena for the fruitful interplay between geometry and quantum field theory. These theories play an important role in string theory and provide generalizations, still to be explored fully, of rich structures such as mirror symmetry. They also have applications to non-perturbative four-dimensional physics, for instance as descriptions of surface defects or low energy dynamics of solitonic strings in four-dimensional supersymmetric theories. The purpose of these lecture notes is to acquaint the reader with these fascinating theories, assuming a background in conformal theory, quantum field theory and differential geometry at the beginning graduate level. In order to investigate the profound relations between structures from complex geometry and field theory the text begins with a thorough examination of the basic structures of (0,2) quantum field theory and conformal field theory. Next, a simple class of Lagrangian theories, the (0,2) Landau-Ginzburg models, are discussed, together with the resulting renormalization group flows, dynamics, and symmetries. After a thorough introduction and examination of (0,2) non-linear sigma models, the text introduces linear sigma models that, in particular, provide a unified treatment of non-linear sigma models and Landau-Ginzburg theories. Many exercises, along with discussions of relevant mathematical notions and important open problems in the field, are included in the text.

This book pedagogically describes recent developments in gauge theory, in particular four-dimensional N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theory, in relation to various fields in mathematics, including algebraic geometry, geometric representation theory, vertex operator algebras. The key concept is the instanton, which is a solution to the anti-self-dual Yang–Mills equation in four dimensions. In the first part of the book, starting with the systematic description of the instanton, how to integrate out the instanton moduli space is explained together with the equivariant localization formula. It is then illustrated that this formalism is generalized to various situations, including quiver and fractional quiver gauge theory, supergroup gauge theory. The second part of the book is devoted to the algebraic geometric description of supersymmetric gauge theory, known as the Seiberg–Witten theory, together with string/M-theory point of view. Based on its relation to integrable systems, how to quantize such a geometric structure via the Ω-deformation of gauge theory is addressed. The third part of the book focuses on the quantum algebraic structure of supersymmetric gauge theory. After introducing the free field realization of gauge theory, the underlying infinite dimensional algebraic structure is discussed with emphasis on the connection with representation theory of quiver, which leads to the notion of quiver W-algebra. It is then clarified that such a gauge theory construction of the algebra naturally gives rise to further affinization and elliptic deformation of W-algebra.

This thesis describes the structures of six-dimensional (6d) superconformal field theories and its torus compactifications. The first half summarizes various aspects of 6d field theories, while the latter half investigates torus compactifications of these theories, and relates them to four-dimensional superconformal field theories in the class, called class S. It is known that compactifications of 6d conformal field theories with maximal supersymmetries provide numerous insights into four-dimensional superconformal field theories. This thesis generalizes the story to the theories with smaller supersymmetry, constructing those six-dimensional theories as brane configurations in the M-theory, and highlighting the importance of fractionalization of M5-branes. This result establishes new dualities between the theories with eight supercharges.

This monograph describes some of the most interesting results obtained by the mathematicians and physicists collaborating in the CRC 647 "Space – Time – Matter", in the years 2005 - 2016. The work presented concerns the mathematical and physical foundations of string and quantum field theory as well as cosmology. Important topics are the spaces and metrics modelling the geometry of matter, and the evolution of these geometries. The partial differential equations governing such structures and their singularities, special solutions and stability properties are discussed in detail. Contents Introduction Algebraic K-theory, assembly maps, controlled algebra, and trace methods Lorentzian manifolds with special holonomy – Constructions and global properties Contributions to the spectral geometry of locally homogeneous spaces On conformally covariant differential operators and spectral theory of the holographic Laplacian Moduli and deformations Vector bundles in algebraic geometry and mathematical physics Dyson–Schwinger equations: Fix-point equations for quantum fields Hidden structure in the form factors ofN = 4 SYM On regulating the AdS superstring Constraints on CFT observables from the bootstrap program Simplifying amplitudes in Maxwell-Einstein and Yang-Mills-Einstein supergravities Yangian symmetry in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory Wave and Dirac equations on manifolds Geometric analysis on singular spaces Singularities and long-time behavior in nonlinear evolution equations and general relativity

The International Conference on the History of Original Ideas and Basic Discoveries, held at the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily, July 27-August 4, 1994, brought together sixty of the leading scientists including many Nobel Laureates in high energy physics, principal contributors in other fields of physics such as high Tc superconductivity, particle accelerators and detector instrumentation, and thirty-six talented younger physicists selected from candidates throughout the world. The scientific program, including 49 lectures and a discussion session on the "Status and Future Directions in High Energy Physics" was inspired by the conference theme: The key experimental discoveries and theoretical breakthroughs of the last 50 years, in particle physics and related fields, have led us to a powerful description of matter in terms of three quark and three lepton families and four fundamental interactions. The most recent generation of experiments at e+e- and proton-proton colliders, and corresponding advances in theoretical calculations, have given us remarkably precise determinations of the basic parameters of the electroweak and strong interactions. These developments, while showing the striking internal consistency of the Standard Model, have also sharpened our view of the many unanswered questions which remain for the next generation: the origin and pattern of particle masses and families, the unification of the interactions including gravity, and the relation between the laws of physics and the initial conditions of the universe.

This is a unique 21st-century monograph that reveals a basic, yet deep understanding of the universe, as well as the human mind and body — all from the perspective of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.This book starts with both non-mathematical and mathematical preliminaries. It presents the basics of both non-relativistic and relativistic quantum mechanics, and introduces Feynman path integrals and their application to quantum fields and string theory, as well as some non-quantum applications. It then describes the quantum universe in the form of loop quantum gravity and quantum cosmology. Lastly, the book turns to the human body and mind, applying quantum theory to electro-muscular stimulation and consciousness.It can be used as a graduate (or advanced undergraduate) textbook for a two-semester course in quantum physics and its modern applications. Some parts of the book can also be used by engineers, biologists, psychologists and computer scientists, as well as applied mathematicians, both in industry and academia.

This thorough and detailed exposition is the result of an intensive month-long course on mirror symmetry sponsored by the Clay Mathematics Institute. It develops mirror symmetry from both mathematical and physical perspectives with the aim of furthering interaction between the two fields. The material will be particularly useful for mathematicians and physicists who wish to advance their understanding across both disciplines. Mirror symmetry is a phenomenon arising in string theory in which two very different manifolds give rise to equivalent physics. Such a correspondence has significant mathematical consequences, the most familiar of which involves the enumeration of holomorphic curves inside complex manifolds by solving differential equations obtained from a ``mirror'' geometry. The inclusion of D-brane states in the equivalence has led to further conjectures involving calibrated submanifolds of the mirror pairs and new (conjectural) invariants of complex manifolds: the Gopakumar-Vafa invariants. This book gives a single, cohesive treatment of mirror symmetry. Parts 1 and 2 develop the necessary mathematical and physical background from ``scratch''. The treatment is focused, developing only the material most necessary for the task. In Parts 3 and 4 the physical and mathematical proofs of mirror symmetry are given. From the physics side, this means demonstrating that two different physical theories give isomorphic physics. Each physical theory can be described geometrically, and thus mirror symmetry gives rise to a ``pairing'' of geometries. The proof involves applying $R\leftrightarrow 1/R$ circle duality to the phases of the fields in the gauged linear sigma model. The mathematics proof develops Gromov-Witten theory in the algebraic setting, beginning with the moduli spaces of curves and maps, and uses localization techniques to show that certain hypergeometric functions encode the Gromov-Witten invariants in genus zero, as is predicted by mirror symmetry. Part 5 is devoted to advanced topi This one-of-a-kind book is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in mathematics and mathematical and theoretical physics.