Mirror Symmetry

by Kentaro Hori, Sheldon Katz (Editor), Albrecht Klemm (Editor)

This thorough and detailed exposition is the result of an intensive month-long course sponsored by the Clay Mathematics Institute. It develops mirror symmetry from both mathematical and physical perspectives. The material will be particularly useful for those wishing to advance their understanding by exploring mirror symmetry at the interface of mathematics and physics. This one-of-a-kind volume offers the first comprehensive exposition on this increasingly active area of study. It is carefully written by leading experts who explain the main concepts without assuming too much prerequisite knowledge. The book is an excellent resource for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in mathematical and theoretical physics.

Genres: Mathematics, Physics

929 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jon Paprocki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This enormous book would require several years of study to get through, so I'm evaluating based on the handful of sections that I have read. It is certainly a fully self-contained account of the idea of mirror symmetry, written in a manner that I think would appeal to both mathematicians and physicists. Amazingly, I think it would theoretically be possible to start reading this book with only a basic knowledge of analysis and topology, but being several years beyond those topics certainly helps a great deal. No prior knowledge of quantum field theory, string theory, or supersymmetry is needed.

Both mathematicians and physicists will want more depth and detail than what is given in certain sections, like the one on homological mirror symmetry, and the extensive references make this easy.

Mirror symmetry is the overall theme of the book, but I think this book would actually be suitable to study several other topics, such as complex geometry, string theory, supersymmetric quantum field theory, and gauge theory. Of course there are more specialized books on all of these topics, but this book is a sort of all-in-one store for the mirror symmetry industry.

[The Architect]

Not particularly impressed with the exposition in some places, and there are typos...