Conformal invariance and string theory : [Lectures delivered at the summer school on conformal invariance theory, held at Poiana Brasov, Romania, 11-12 September 1987

Conformal Invariance and String Theory is an account of the series of lectures held in Summer School regarding Conformal Invariance and String Theory in September 1987. The purpose of the lectures is to present the important problems and results in these two areas of theoretical physics. The text is divided into two major parts. Part I deals with implications of conformal invariance in studying two-dimensional systems. Part II meanwhile presents lectures regarding the advances in string theory and other related topics.Also included in the text is a part dedicated to the topic of determinants. This topic is discussed in two parts; the first focuses on the determinants in the finite dimensional case, while the second talks about Fredholm determinants. The book is a helpful source of reference to students and researchers in the field of physics, specifically quantum and theoretical. Content: Front Matter , Page iii Copyright , Page iv Contributors , Page vii LIST OF PARTICIPANTS , Pages ix-xii Preface , Page xiii , Bucharest FINITE TEMPERATURE 2-DIMENSIONAL QFT MODELS OF CONFORMAL CURRENT ALGEBRA , Pages 3-36 , I.T. Todorov Operator Content of Some c = 1 Models in Statistical Mechanics , Pages 37-61 , V. Rittenberg TWO DIMENSIONAL CRITICAL MODELS ON A TORUS , Pages 63-87 , H. Saleur, P. di Francesco WESS-ZUMINO-WITTEN MODELS AND OTHER TWO-DIMENSIONAL CRITICAL SYSTEMS , Pages 89-114 , R. Flume KAC-MOODY ALGEBRAS IN 2D CONFORMAL FIELD THEORIES , Pages 115-126 , Peter Bouwknegt CONFORMAL ALGEBRAS AND DEFECTS IN THE QUANTUM ISING CHAIN , Pages 127-145 , Malte Henkel CONFORMAL QUANTUM FIELD THEORIES AND INTEGRABLE SYSTEMS , Pages 147-161 , M. KAROWSKI STRING FIELD THEORY , Pages 165-203 , I.Ya. Aref'eva LIOUVILLE SUPERSTRINGS , Pages 205-241 , Jean-Loup GERVAIS GEOMETRY OF THE KALUZA-KLEIN THEORIES , Pages 243-284 , Richard KERNER DETERMINANTS OF LAPLACIANS ON RIEMANN SURFACES , Pages 285-291 , Yu.I. Manin REFLECTIONS ON ARITHMETICAL PHYSICS , Pages 293-303 , Yu.I. Manin STRINGS ON ORBIFOLDS: AN INTRODUCTION , Pages 305-334 , Hans-Peter Nilles Quantization of bosonic closed strings and the Liouville model , Pages 335-366 , Sylvie Paycha THE COVARIANT LATTICE CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR-DIMENSIONAL STRINGS , Pages 367-441 , W. LERCHE, A.N. SCHELLEKENS A COURSE ON DETERMINANTS , Pages 443-445 , P. Cartier PART ONE - DETERMINANTS IN THE FINITE DIMENSIONAL CASE , Pages 447-479 PART TWO - FREDHOLM DETERMINANTS , Pages 480-539 PART THREE - OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS , Pages 539-557 Perspectives in Physics , Page ibc1