Book 10

Vertex Algebras for Beginners

by Victor G. Kac

Published 6 February 1997
This book is an introduction to algebaic aspects of conformal field theory, which in the past decade revealed a variety of unusual mathematical notions. Vertex algebra theory provides an effective tool to study these notions in a unified way. Here, a mathematician will encounter new algebraic structures that originated from Einstein's special relativity postulate and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. A physicist will find familiar notions presented in a more rigorous and systematic way, which may lead to a better understanding of foundations of quantum physics. This book is intended for graduate students, research mathematicians, and physicists interested in mathematical aspects of quantum field theory.