Introduction to Conformal Field Theory - Fall 2011
During the fall semester of 2011, I will teach 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. The more advanced topics covered during this course (see below), will differ from the topics covered during the previous course (see the 2008 course page).
During the fall of 2011, a course on the mathematical aspects of Conformal Field Theory will be given by Jouko Mickelsson. This course will only have moderate overlap with the course I will give. Those who are interested in the more mathematical background, are recommened to follow both courses. More information about Jouko's course, can be found on the SI2410 course website.
Time and place
- Tenth and final set of exercises (due december 23rd?) is available below.
- Time: Friday, 15:15 - 17:00 (OBS: the time and day might vary, please check this website if unsure!!)
- First lecture: September 2, 2011
- Last lecture: Decmeber 16, 2011
- Place: Room 122:026, Roslagstullsbacken 17
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
- The Coulomb gas formalism
- Singular vectors and differential equations for correlation functions
- Applications: entanglement entropy and Zamolodchikov's c-theorem
Points
In order to receive credit for the course, handing in problem sets will compulsory. More details about the examination will follow. This course will be a 7.5 point (ECTS) course.
Exercise sets for the course
