The two-dimensional nonlinear sigma model is a classical field theory whose fields are maps from a Riemann surface Σ to a Riemannian manifold X, and whose classical solutions are minimal surfaces. In this thesis, we study ...
This thesis is about the relationship between vertex algebras and Costello-Gwilliam factorization algebras, two mathematical approaches to chiral conformal field theory. Many vertex algebras have already been constructed. ...