December 15, 1995 

Dear Colleagues,

The Institute for Advanced Study will have a special program during the
academic year 1996-97 on quantum field theory, directed by P. Deligne, D.
Kazhdan and E. Witten.  It will be sponsored jointly by the School of
Mathematics and the School of Natural Sciences.

The goal is to create and convey an understanding, in terms congenial to
mathematicians, of some fundamental notions of physics, such as quantum
field theory, supersymmetry and string theory.  The emphasis will be on
developing the intuition stemming from functional integrals.

One way to define the goals of the program is by negation, excluding certain
important subjects commonly pursued by mathematicians whose work is
motivated by physics.  In this spirit, it is not planned to treat except
periferally the magnificent new applications of field theory, such as
Seiberg-Witten equations to Donaldson theory.  Nor is the plan to consider
fundamental new constructions within mathematics that were inspired by
physics, such as quantum groups or vertex operator algebras.  Nor is the aim
to discuss how to provide mathematical rigor for physical theories.  Rather,
the goal is to develop the sort of intuition common among physicists for
those who are used to thought processes stemming from geometry and algebra.

During the year there will be several series of lectures, including:

Quantum field theory including Yang-Mills theory and renormalization, by L.
Faddeev

Conformal field theories from the point of view of functional integrals, by
K. Gawedzki

Super-symmetry, by D. Kazhdan

String theory leading to Yang-Mills theory and super-symmetry, by E. D'Hoker

S-duality, by E. Witten.

The Institute will have funds to support a limited number of
mathematicians and physicists at the postdoctoral level.  Traditionally
our application deadline is December 1.  However, we will be
considering candidates for this special program until February 1.
Application materials may be requested from Mr. Richard Lloyd, School
of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study, Olden Lane, Princeton, NJ
08540, (609) 734-8112.  His e-mail address is:  lloyd@math.ias.edu.
Also, forms may be accessed via a "gopher" connection to:
gopher.math.ias.edu, or via a "web" connection to:
http://www.math.ias.edu/.

If you know any outstanding recent Ph.D. who might be in a position to
benefit from this program, please give them this information and
encourage them to apply.

It would be helpful to both the applicant and to us to have letters of
recommendation which focus on the ability of the applicant to benefit from
being at the Institute during this special program.

                                        Sincerely,



                                        Robert MacPherson