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I am a third year student in physics and mathematics and taking a course in which each student need to prepare and give one lecture about some topic related to physics. As I saw String Theory in the topics list I thought it could be a good opportunity to start learn it. I have background in quantum mechanics, statistical physics, analytical mechanics, group theory, and I read the book "quantum field theory for the gifted amateur" until chapter 12.

  1. What topics should I learn before string theory?

  2. I would appreciate any recommendations for books or other material about string theory.

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    $\begingroup$ Without a high level of comfort in quantum field theory you probably won't be able to get very far. Having said that, good intro level sources are David Tong's notes on string theory as well as Joe Polchinksi's 90 page notes "Joe's little book of strings." To some extent, though, all intro string theory material is very very similar, with a very large amount of overlap. Whichever one you personally find the easiest to read is the best. $\endgroup$
    – user1379857
    Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 22:45
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    $\begingroup$ Just a comment, if you're giving a single lecture on a topic in physics you're probably not expected to have a comprehensive understanding of string theory. I'd instead focus on key results, concepts, etc. There are plenty of good textbooks but any good review paper will probably serve better. $\endgroup$
    – Eletie
    Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 22:46
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    $\begingroup$ This reminds me of this comic. $\endgroup$
    – jacob1729
    Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 22:46
  • $\begingroup$ user1379857, Thanks! $\endgroup$
    – ziv
    Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 22:49
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    $\begingroup$ @ziv Barton Zwiebach has an excellent textbook about string theory targeted at undergrads that I think you would be prepared for based on your experience. But as others said I wouldn't try to cover everything, just some key results. Deriving light cone quantization for the bosonic string would be a good target, this is done in chapter 2 of Tong's notes (but don't skip Chapters 0 and 1!) $\endgroup$
    – Andrew
    Commented Mar 14, 2021 at 0:15

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It's really wonderful to read a young physicist interested in string theory.

For the matter of the lecture I recommend to follow Witten's essay What Every Physicist Should Know About String Theory.

The following videos are about the enormous impact that string theory has produced for theoretical physics as a whole:

-What Every Physicist Should Know About String Theory

-Fundamental Lessons from String Theory with Cumrun Vafa

For a brief summary on string theory textbooks read the following blog post entry:

However I absolutely sure that you should start with the introductory textbook A first course in string theory by Barton Zwiebach.

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    $\begingroup$ "It's really wonderful to read a young physicist interested in string theory" - I could not agree more. I see a lot of people in my department who don't know anything about string theory and always try to disencourage students from learning it. String theory is a wonderful topic to study and people should be encouraged to do it. +1 for doing that here. $\endgroup$
    – Gold
    Commented Mar 14, 2021 at 2:09
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks a lot for your kind words @Gold. $\endgroup$
    – Ramiro Hum-Sah
    Commented Mar 14, 2021 at 2:13
  • $\begingroup$ @Ramiro Hum-Sah Thanks! I still don't mark this as an answered questions in order to see if I will get some more recommendation. $\endgroup$
    – ziv
    Commented Mar 14, 2021 at 7:51
  • $\begingroup$ I followed Witten's essay and video and I have this question about it:Why is the proper time τ the only invariant under diffomorphizem? $\endgroup$
    – ziv
    Commented Mar 29, 2021 at 22:28

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