Resources

On this page, you can find helpful resources to learn string field theory (SFT). For each topic, references are listed by approximate (and subjective!) increasing difficulty and recency.

Modern introductions

Analytic solutions

  • Erler – Four Lectures on Analytic Solutions in Open String Field Theory (lecture notes, arXiv:1912.00521)
  • Okawa – Analytic Methods in Open String Field Theory (review, 2012)
  • Fuchs, Kroyter – Analytical Solutions of Open String Field Theory (review, arXiv:0807.4722)

Level truncation

Worldsheet string theory

Several aspects of the worldsheet formulation of string theory are central to SFT. Of particular importance are CFTs, the characterization of the spectrum through the BRST quantization, and the computation of scattering amplitudes (as integrals over Riemann surface moduli spaces). There are several useful books and reviews which present these concepts in a useful way to make contact with SFT.

  • Polchinski – String theory, volume 1 (book, 2005)
  • Israel – Lectures Notes on String Theory (lecture notes, 2020)
  • Wray – An Introduction to String Theory (lecture notes, 2011)