Copyright 2010 © by Steven S. gubser requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, new Jersey 08540 in the United kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 oxford Street, Woodstock, oxfordshire oX20 1TW All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data gubser, Steven Scott, 1972- The little book of string theory / Steven S. gubser. p. cm. -- (Science essentials) includes index. iSBn 978-0-691-14289-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. String models--Popular works. i. Title. QC794.6.S85g83 2010 539.7'258--dc22 2009022871 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Bembo Printed on acid-free paper. press.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1