Table of Contents

List of inserts; Preface; 1. Overview and overture; 2. Relativistic strings; 3. A closer look at the world-sheet; 4. Strings on circles and T-duality; 5. Background fields and world-volume actions; 6. D-branes tension and boundary states; 7. Supersymmetric strings; 8. Supersymmetric strings and T-duality; 9. World-volume curvature couplings; 10. The geometry of D-branes; 11. Multiple D-branes and bound states; 12. Strong coupling and string duality; 13. D-branes and geometry I; 14. K3 orientifolds and compactification; 15. D-branes and geometry II; 16. Towards M- and F-theory; 17. D-branes and black holes; 18. D-branes, gravity and gauge theory; 19. The holographic renormalisation group; 20. Taking stock; References; Index.

Promotional Information

Self-contained and pedagogical introduction to key string theory ideas and techniques needed to understand D-branes.

About the Author

Clifford V. Johnson obtained his BSc in physics at Imperial College, University of London, and his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Southampton. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Theoretical Physics, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Durham, where he is part of the Centre for Particle Theory.

Reviews

"...the most up-to-date string text available. It is an excellent resource..." Donald Marolf, University of California Santa Barbara, American Journal of Physics "D-Branes is an excellent complement to other existing texts on string theory..." Physics Today