The aim of this project is to give you a first look at the world of String Theory. The journey, however, will take us on a tour through the most fundamental maths that we use in physics. For more details on the motivation to study string theory, and a brief outline of the project, see the project brief.
The project is split into two parts. In the first of these parts, we will investigate how to formulate the motion of a wobbling string using the tools of modern mathematics, including differential equations, periodic functions, and complex numbers. In the second part, we will make a bit of a leap, and discover how the diverse world of particle physics can be produced from this single tiny string!
Below, you can find the task sheets for the project, which will be updated at a few points ovet the year.
If you have any questions between our meetings, please don't hesitate to contact me at rishi.mouland@kcl.ac.uk and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
I.1 Getting to grips with functions and derivatives
I.2 Solving some differential equations
I.3 Strings, and a very special PDE
I.4 Closing the loop
II.1 Complex numbers are your friend
II.2 Quantum states of the string
II.3 The correct (??!!) dimension of spacetime!