Course on Gauge-Gravity duality (AdS/CFT)

Example Sheets for 2020

Example Sheet 1
Example Sheet 2

Lecture Notes from 2019

Because of an ergonomic issue with my wrist, I wrote out my lecture notes on a whiteboard at home, and then took photos. (The 2020 online version of the course will contain similar content, but the order and coverage of topics may be somewhat different.)

Topic 0: Inspirational Remarks

Topic 1: CFTs and the Special Conformal Group

Topic 2: Anti de Sitter Spacetime

Topic 3: Scalar Waves in AdS, Operators and Sources

Topic 4: Vectors and Tensors, Conserved Currents

Topic 5: Large N Gauge Theories, Examples of AdS/CFT

Topic 6: Black Holes & Thermal States

Topic 7: Entanglement Entropy

Topic 8: Bulk Reconstruction

Topic 9: Proof of RT & Entanglement Wedge Duality

Recommended Articles

There are a vast number of reviews of the AdS/CFT correspondence, but here are some particularly helpful ones:

• G. Horowitz & J. Polchinski: "Gauge/gravity duality"
• Raman Sundrum: "From Fixed Points to the Fifth Dimension"
• O. Aharony, S.S. Gubser, J. Maldacena, H. Ooguri & Y. Oz: "Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity"
• Veronika Hubeny: "The AdS/CFT Correspondence"
• Mark Van Raamsdonk: "Lectures on Gravity and Entanglement"
• Daniel Harlow: "TASI Lectures on the Emergence of the Bulk in AdS/CFT"

And here are some of the original papers on the subject:

• Juan Maldacena: "The Large N Limit of Superconformal Field Theories and Supergravity"
• Edward Witten: "Anti De Sitter Space And Holography"
• S.S. Gubser, I.R. Klebanov & A.M. Polyakov: "Gauge Theory Correlators from Non-Critical String Theory"