Zwiebach B. A First Course in String Theory

2nd edition. — Cambridge University Press, 2009. — 697 pages.Barton Zwiebach is once again faithful to his goal of making string theory accessible to undergraduates. Complete and thorough in its coverage, the author presents the main concepts of string theory in a concrete and physical way in order to develop intuition before formalism, often through simplified and illustrative examples. This new edition now includes AdS/CFT correspondence, which is the hottest area of string theory right now as well as introducing superstrings. The text is perfectly suited to introductory courses in string theory for students with a background in mathematics and physics. New sections cover strings on orbifolds, cosmic strings, moduli stabilization, and the string theory landscape.ForewordAcknowledgements
Basics:
A brief introduction
Special relativity and extra dimensions
Electromagnetism and gravitation in various dimensions
Nonrelativistic strings
The relativistic point particle
Relativistic strings
Strong parameterization and classical motion
World-sheet currents
Light-cone relativistic strings
Light-cone fields and particles
The relativistic quantum point particle
Relativistic quantum closed strings
Relativistic quantum closed strings
A look at relativistic superstrings
Developments:
D-branes and gauge fields
String charge and electric charge
T-duality of closed strings
T-duality of open strings
Electromagnetism fields in D-branes
Nonlinear and Born-Infeld electrodynamics
Strong theory and particle physics
String thermodynamics and black holes
Strong interactions and AdS/CFT
Covariant string quantization
String interactions and Riemann surfaces
Loop amplitudes in string theory
References
Index.