Themes

Over the last decade, the gauge/string duality has shaped a new paradigm of string theory and changed drastically the way we understand quantum field theory and gravity. The focus of the school is this far-reaching duality and, in particular, its utility as an analytic tool to understand strong coupling gauge dynamics. The school is aimed at all levels of PhD students and researchers who are interested in string theory and/or its application to gauge theory. The lectures will be kept as pedagogical and low-key as possible. The topics covered are (1) Time-dependent phenomena and AdS/CFT (S. Das), (2)* On M2-branes (O. Bergman), (3) Wilson loops in gauge and string theory (N. Drukker), (4)* QGP and AdS/CFT - hydrodynamics and beyond (R. Janik), and (5) Seiberg-Witten theory: basics and recent developments (Y. Tachikawa).

* canceled but the lecture notes are available at Lectures (Thanks Oren and Romuald!)