An introduction to perturbative and non-perturbative string theory

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive introduction to both perturbative and non-perturbative string theory, covering fundamental concepts, dualities, and effective field theories, suitable for newcomers to the field.

Contribution

It offers an organized overview of string theory's perturbative and non-perturbative aspects, including recent developments like M-theory and string dualities.

Findings

Clarifies the spectrum of free strings and compactification effects

Explains non-perturbative dualities and M-theory framework

Summarizes effective field theories derived from string models

Abstract

In these lectures we give a brief introduction to perturbative and non-perturbative string theory. The outline is the following: 1. Introduction to perturbative string theory 1.1 From point particle to extended objects 1.2 Free closed and open string spectrum 1.3 Compactification on a circle and T-duality 1.4 The Superstring: type IIA and IIB 1.5 Heterotic string and orbifold compactifications 1.6 Type I string theory 1.7 Effective field theories References 2. Introduction to non-perturbative string theory 2.1 String solitons 2.2 Non-perturbative string dualities 2.3 M-theory 2.4 Effective field theories and duality tests References