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What are the mathematical prerequisites to understand this paper?

Blumenhagen et al. Four-dimensional String Compactifications with D-Branes, Orientifolds and Fluxes. Phys. Rept. 445 no. 1-6, pp. 1-193 (2007). doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2007.04.003, arXiv:hep-th/0610327.

I know quantum field theory and some string theory (at the level of string theory demystified) What else should I know in order to be able to read this paper?

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closed as too localized by David Z Jan 25 '13 at 20:28


Would also be good to receive some tips on sources and references where best to learn the required math. –  vonjd Jan 25 '13 at 12:47
I suggest you to start reading the article and you'll see things you possibly don't understand, then do research about those topics. And if it's possible, you should look for a tutor in your university. –  Anuar Jan 25 '13 at 13:45
Halfway through the intro (on page 16), the authors state what they expect from the reader. I suggest you start with the Polchinski textbook, which is very legible. In my opinion there shouldn't be any real mathematical difficulties at this point - everything you need is explained in string textbooks on the physicist level. Of course you need some ideas about manifolds and representation theory, but if you're not at that level you'd better defer working on string theory at the moment ;) –  Vibert Jan 25 '13 at 17:18
Hi @sdfxvcv: We like very much the topic and level of your question. However we often see that OP asks a soft-question about prerequisites and references rather than posing an actual physics question. Such soft-questions are quite restricted on Phys.SE. It is much better to ask the first actual physics question that you have when you try to understand a subject. –  Qmechanic Jan 25 '13 at 21:45
@Qmechanic can I get somewhere the information the OP wanted to get? I was very interested in an answer to this question too. Nowhere on Physics SE can one find information about what mathematical prerequisites are needed to understand such papers and what are nice introductions to get started. All such questions get closed immediately. This is very discouraging when one wants to learn stuff :-( –  Dilaton Jan 25 '13 at 23:05