Introduction to M Theory and AdS/CFT Duality

TL;DR

This paper provides an introductory overview of key developments in superstring theory, focusing on three dualities: M theory emergence, type IIB and M theory duality, and AdS/CFT correspondence.

Contribution

It offers a foundational survey of recent dualities in superstring theory, elucidating their significance and interconnections.

Findings

Identification of the 11th dimension in strong coupling limits

Duality between type IIB on a circle and M theory on a two-torus

Introduction to AdS/CFT duality between string/M theory and quantum field theories

Abstract

An introductory survey of some of the developments that have taken place in superstring theory in the past few years is presented. The main focus is on three particular dualities. The first one is the appearance of an 11th dimension in the strong coupling limit of the type IIA theory, which give rise to M theory. The second one is the duality between the type IIB theory compactified on a circle and M theory on a two-torus. The final topic is an introduction to the recently proposed duality between superstring theory or M theory on certain anti de Sitter space backgrounds and conformally invariant quantum field theories.