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  • Writer's pictureAlex Cassem

Strings ch.6, & an Update

Updated: Apr 8, 2022

The end of my last undergraduate semester is coming up quick, and I am really trying to end on a high note (all A's to start with). However, to stay somewhat sane after doing all these discrete mathematics these past months (discrete sets, abstract algebra with discrete groups and rings, proofs after proofs after proofs... (boring ones, some are fun)), I have been keeping up with my usual physics of interest: strings and geometrical physics (although not much albeit).

I did one of the larger problems in chapter 6 of "Strings in a Nutshell," namely the derivation for the T-duality of the non-linear sigma model. That is attached here:

strings nutshell ch 1-6
.pdf
Download PDF • 410KB

However, when I am trying to go past the bosonic string, and the more complicated calculations such as tadpoles, 1-loop corrections, and higher-order supercurrent conformal algebra, I have decided to also go through Nakahara's textbook on geometry, topology, and physics.... by of course producing solutions to the textbook (what else am I suppose to do when learning a subject on my own...)

For example, before I go this text, I had to do a lot of googling, and guessing on what the Mobius transformation was for the exercise in chapter 5. However, it is quite clear after reading Nakahara's textbook what it is now. So, expect chapter one and possibly two also from that text being posted on my (this) website soon.

OH, also the other big news.... I am going to Tufts University for graduate school to obtain my PhD! I was waiting for a long time to hear back from the University of Texas at Austin with respect to my application, so I decided to just go for it. Mainly because after being put on the official waitlist, seeing people on forums be both accepted and rejected (recently more rejections went out), I went with Tufts. Tufts also has been giving the impression (I say this since you never know) that they truly want me there at Tufts University. And really, the feeling of being wanted will sell any undergraduate to go to that specific school; because it means they care about your future (and this case, its not because they want my money.... like some, they really care).

So hopefully, in either 4 to 6 years (my goal is 4, yes I know, that's a big goal, but I plan to really go for it, get classes out of the way, and focus on research right away, in other words, no "dilly-dallying around,") I will have my PhD in theoretical cosmology!

Have a great week, the school year is almost over, make sure to end on a high note!

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