CFT-course fall 2008
During the fall semester of 2008, I will be teaching an introductory course in Conformal Field Theory. This course will start from the basics, and not assume any previous knowledge of conformal field theory. Some basic knowledge about quantum field theory will definitely be helpful. The course will consist of lectures (once a week, 2 times 45 minutes), as well as exercises which will be provided. For the basics, I will be following (parts of) `Conformal Field Theory', by Di Francesco, P. Mathieu and Sénéchal (Springer, New York, 1997). For the more advanced topics at the end, I will hand out additional material.
Time and place
- Time: Wednesdays, 13:15-15:00
- First lecture: September 24, 2008
- Place: Room 122:026, Roslagstullsbacken 17
- Office hours: Mondays, 11:00-12:00, room 132:012.
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Rescheduled lectures:
- Wednesday, October 22 --> Monday, October 20, 10:15 in 122:026
- Wednesday, November 5 --> Friday, November 7, 10:15 in 122:026
- Wednesday, November 12 --> to be determined.
Topics covered
The topics which will be covered are listed below. Whether or not some of the more advanced topics will be covered depends on the time available.
- Motivation and introduction to conformal invariance
- The Virasoro algebra
- Free bosons and fermions
- Minimal models
- Singular vectors and differential equations for correlation functions
- CFT on the torus: Modular invariance and the Verlinde Formula
- Extended symmetries: current algebras and the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation
Points
Details about examination for those who want to take the course for points will be given during the first lecture. This course will be a 7.5 point (ECTS) course.
Exercises
