General Information

Graduate Topics course; topics change every year.

Prerequisites

Topics Covered

Fall 2024: String Theory Fall 2025: AdS/CFT Correspondence

Workload

~ 1 pset/2 weeks requiring 5-10 hrs of work each and a final report on a famous result in string theory (of your choosing). Most of the homework was based on lecture content, but occasionally required reading the corresponding sections from Polchinski. The class really should be a normal 3 credit course but for whatever reason it is listed as 1 credit. [Fall 2024]

Very low; the semester I took the class was Tom’s last semester at Cornell, so he was seriously toned back on the workload, as compared to say, GR with him. The only work I’ve had to do the entire semester is the final project, which in this case, was only a final presentation. That said, in any other semester with any other professor, I can imagine that the workload with the class being a 2 credit course, would be much higher. [Fall 2025]

General Advice

If you’ve taken the prerequisites (gr and qft), you should 100% take the class, even if you do not plan on doing research in string theory. Unfortunately, it is not always offered (the last time it was taught was 6 years prior to this) so you just have to be lucky that there is a critical mass of theory grad students ready/willing to take this class. [Fall 2024]

I would highly recommend taking a class like if you had the necessary prerequisites, those being GR and QFT. Even if you don’t necessarily plan on going into string theory or a related topic, it was a very fun experience that helped me more formally decide exactly what I wanted to work on in the future. [Fall 2025]

Testimonials

Extraordinarily well taught class; definitely the best physics class I’ve taken during my four years at Cornell. The professor (Prof. McAllister) brought cheese, fruit, and crackers to each lecture since it was at a very late timeslot (Wednesdays 6-8 PM) which was so nice. The semester I was taught, we focused on the foundations of the theory using the bosonic string, and we were introduced to some advanced topics like D-branes and superstring theory in the last few lectures. This ended up being most of Volume 1 of Polchinski (excluding some of the amplitudes content) and a bit of Volume 2. Rating: 5/5. [Fall 2024]

This is probably my favorite class I have ever taken, period. We covered, in total, the following topics:

  • Conformal Field Theory
  • Path Integrals and Correlation Functions
  • Aspects of the Conformal Bootstrap
  • Motivating the AdS/CFT Correspondence
  • AdS/CFT
  • Correlation Functions and Witten Diagrams
  • Black Holes in String Theory The topics weren’t necessarily covered in great detail, but rather the lectures were given as more of a survey of the topics, which was nice. Tom, as usual, is a fantastic lecturer, and he has the ability to take these really advanced topics and break them down in a very understandable way, which was very nice towards someone like myself, who was presently co-enrolled in QFT.

To that end, with the plethora of fascinating topics that we covered, coupled with the easiest workload I’ve ever had for a class, this is by and large my favorite class I have ever taken. [Fall 2025]

Past Offerings

Semester Professor Median Grade Syllabi
Fall 2024 Liam McAllister S (the course is 1 credit, S/U option only) PHYS7687_FA24.pdf
Fall 2025 Tom Hartman S PHYS7687_FA24.pdf