3

Can we summarize string theory (in its actual state) in some principles and fundamental equations like electromagnetism, general relativity, quantum mechanics and classical mechanics ?

I am looking for a book for string theory for mathematicians similar to the book of Von Neumann for QM.

google
  • 277
  • @NeilStrickland Thanks! could you write down the equations of string theory in a clear way reading those books ? – google Jan 31 '15 at 16:31
  • 1
    String theory is just not at that mature stage yet. A non-perturbative definition is unavailable. – Meng Cheng Jan 31 '15 at 17:00

1 Answers1

4

Not a book, but an informative and enjoyable summary has been given by Robbert Dijkgraaf:

The mathematics of string theory

String theory can be considered as a two-parameter deformation of classical geometry, where one parameter controls the generalization from points to loops, and the other parameter controls the quantization in terms of the sum over topologies of Riemann surfaces. The final formulation of non-perturbative string theory, which is not yet there, will have to bring together geometry, non-commutative algebra and loop spaces.

Carlo Beenakker
  • 177,695