Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I From Particles to Strings
- Part II TheWorld-Sheet Perspective
- 4 The Free Massless Scalar Field on the Complex Plane
- 5 Two-Dimensional Conformal Field Theories
- 6 Partition Functions I
- Part III The Space-Time Perspective
- Part IV Outlook
- Appendix A Notation and Conventions
- Appendix B Units, Constants, and Scales
- Appendix C Fourier Series and Fourier Integrals
- Appendix D Modular Forms and Special Functions
- Appendix E Young Tableaux
- Appendix F Gaussian Integrals and Integral Exponential Function
- Appendix G Lie Algebras, Lie Groups, and Symmetric Spaces
- References
- Index
6 - Partition Functions I
from Part II - TheWorld-Sheet Perspective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 March 2022
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I From Particles to Strings
- Part II TheWorld-Sheet Perspective
- 4 The Free Massless Scalar Field on the Complex Plane
- 5 Two-Dimensional Conformal Field Theories
- 6 Partition Functions I
- Part III The Space-Time Perspective
- Part IV Outlook
- Appendix A Notation and Conventions
- Appendix B Units, Constants, and Scales
- Appendix C Fourier Series and Fourier Integrals
- Appendix D Modular Forms and Special Functions
- Appendix E Young Tableaux
- Appendix F Gaussian Integrals and Integral Exponential Function
- Appendix G Lie Algebras, Lie Groups, and Symmetric Spaces
- References
- Index
Summary
We review partition functions in thermodynamics and quantum mechanics, and introduce string partition functions as generalisations of particle partition functions. The concept of modular invariance is introduced and highlighted as a feature which distinguishes (closed) strings from particles.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Short Introduction to String Theory , pp. 78 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022