There are several aspects of the strong interaction between quarks and gluons which hint at an underlying string-like theory. Making this idea mathematically precise, however, has been a major problem for several decades. The key insight, made explicit only about ten years ago, is that the strings describing the strong interaction live in a curved, higher-dimensional space. The geometry of this space thereby encodes the properties of the colour force.
This modern correspondence between strings and gauge fields has recently found interesting applications in the study of the strongly coupled quark-gluon fluid phase of QCD, discovered at RHIC. As the string description allows for a direct computation of dynamical properties of QCD-like theories at strong coupling, it provides a useful complement to e.g. lattice techniques. Various corners of the QCD phase diagram are currently being explored using the correspondence. In these lectures I will give an introduction both to string theory and to CD at finite temperature and density, and will then discuss how the string/gauge theory correspondence allows us to compute properties of the quark-gluon fluid phase of QCD, relevant for RHIC and upcoming LHC physics.
Tentative outline:
Some basic knowledge about quantum field theory will be useful, but no prior exposure to string theory will be assumed.
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