Eventhough Nordita staff members have no formal teaching obligations, some have given courses on subjects related to their research. Some courses are more informal introduction to a field, others are for credit. Participants will typically be PhD students and faculty from the local universities (Stockholm University, Royal Institute of Technology, Uppsala University).

2012

LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHODS FOR SIMULATION OF COMPLEX PHENOMENA ACROSS SCALES

Sauro Succi (Istituto Applicazioni Calcolo, CNR, Roma, Italy)

The lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) is a minimal form of Boltzmann kinetic equation, which is meant to simulate the dynamic behaviour of fluid flows without directly solving the equations of continuum fluid mechanics. In this series of lectures, after expounding the basic notions behind LB theories, we shall discuss selected applications from current cutting-edge research in the field, such as the modeling of fluid turbulence, the rheology of soft-glassy materials and wave propagation.

Course home page:  www.nordita.org/lbe2012

First lecture: Monday, 14 May 2012,

Place: Nordita Astrophysics seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

ASTROPHYSICAL HYDRO- AND MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS

Axel Brandenburg (Nordita and Astronomy Department, Stockholm University)

The goal of the course is to understand: (a) the equations of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), (b) waves and instabilities, (c) shocks, solar wind, accretion, (d) fundamental aspects of turbulence and convection, (e) dynamo theory, and (f) numerical techniques for MHD and turbulence.

The course consists of 12 lectures plus 5 tutorials. Exercises which will be provided. This is a 7.5 point (ECTS) course.

Course home page:  www.nordita.org/~brandenb/teach/MHD/schedule/2012_Jan.html

First lecture: Tuesday, 17 January 2012, 10:15 - 12:00

Place: Nordita Astrophysics seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

2011

CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY

Eddy Ardonne (Nordita)

This course will start from the basics. The topics which will be covered are: Motivation and introduction to conformal invariance; The Virasoro algebra; Free bosons and fermions; Minimal models; Singular vectors and differential equations for correlation functions; CFT on the torus: Modular invariance and the Verlinde Formula; Extended symmetries: current algebras and the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation.

No previous knowledge of conformal field theory is assumed, even if some basic knowledge about quantum field theory will definitely be helpful.

The course will consist of lectures (once a week, 2 times 45 minutes), as well as exercises which will be provided. It will be a 7.5 point (ECTS) course

Course home page:   www.nordita.org/~ardonne/cft-course.html

First lecture: Wednesday, 2 September 2011, 15:15 - 17:00

Place: Nordita Astrophysics seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

2010

INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC COMPUTATION

Dhrubaditya Mitra (Nordita)

This 7.5 point PhD course for 5 weeks. Each week consists of three 1.5 hr lecture. Each lecture will be roughly 30 minutes of lecture and 1 hour of hands on session. The main topic is scientific computation. The method of teaching will use fortran 90 heavily. You can use any other language (e.g., C, C++) you wish (but not packages software e.g, mathematica or matlab). Also includes a guest lecture by Chi-Kwan Chan on computations in graphics processors (gpu )

Course home page:  www.nordita.org/~dhruba/teach

Time: 1st Nov-17th Dec 2010

Place: Nordita Astrophysics seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

2009

SOLAR PHYSICS AND MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS

Axel Brandenburg (Nordita)

This 7.5 point PhD course provides an introduction to solar physics with emphasis on solar activity and magnetohydrodynamics. The course includes 4 computer exercises and 3 problem sheets will be handed out. The course syllabus covers solar/terrestrial connection, atmospheric waves, numerical techniques, helioseismology, convection, turbulence, winds and critical points, magnetic fields, coronal heating, reconnection, magneto-rotational instability, laminar and turbulent dynamos, magnetic helicity, and coronal mass ejections.

Course home page:  www.nordita.org/~brandenb/teach/solar

Time: 5-28 May 2009

Place: Nordita Astrophysics seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

INTRODUCTION TO LOOPS AND STRINGS

Diego Chialva, Kristina Giesel, and Alexander Wijns (Nordita)

This is a seminar series or journal club where we want to discuss approaches to quantum gravity. We will start by introducing loop quantum gravity (4 hours) and string theory (4 hours) to a non-expert audience. The focus will be on the basic ingredients that go into both approaches. We will also try to compare their shortcomings, success, common aspects, etc. Afterwards we can venture int various directions according to the preferences and expertise of the participants. The atmosphere surrounding these seminars is hoped to be rather informal.

Time: Tuesdays, 15:00-17:00. The four introductory lectures are

• 21 April, LQG I (KG)
• 28 April, LQG II (KG)
• 5 May, ST I (DC)
• 12 May, ST II (AW)

Place: Nordita Astrophysics seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

2008

CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY

Eddy Ardonne (Nordita)

This course will start from the basics. The topics which will be covered are: Motivation and introduction to conformal invariance; The Virasoro algebra; Free bosons and fermions; Minimal models; Singular vectors and differential equations for correlation functions; CFT on the torus: Modular invariance and the Verlinde Formula; Extended symmetries: current algebras and the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation.

No previous knowledge of conformal field theory is assumed, even if some basic knowledge about quantum field theory will definitely be helpful.

The course will consist of lectures (once a week, 2 times 45 minutes), as well as exercises which will be provided. It will be a 7.5 point (ECTS) course

Course home page:   www.nordita.org/~ardonne/cft-course.html

First lecture: Wednesday, 24 September 2008, at 13:15 to 15:00.

Place: Quantum Chemistry seminar room, 122:026 (Roslagstullsbacken 17)

ADVANCED QUANTUM FIELD THEORY

Ulf Lindström (Nordita and the Physics and Astronomy Department at Uppsala University)

Course home page:  www.teorfys.uu.se/people/lindstrom/qft.html

Time: 1 April to 15 May 2008

Place: Uppsala

2007

SUPERSYMMETRY

Ulf Lindström (Nordita and the Physics and Astronomy Department at Uppsala University)

The course is aimed at beginning PhD-students in physics. Good background is some knowledge of relativistic quantum field theory and a little familiarity with Lie-groups and Lie-algebra.

I will discuss the possible symmetries of a relativistic quantum field theory, the concept of bose-fermi symmetry and define superalgebras. Supersymmetry will be illustrated in the context of simple field theories and sigma models. Emphasis will be give to efficient methods for packaging multiplets (i.e. superspace) and I will choose low dimensional examples to bring out the ideas as clearly a possible. The main body of the course will be basic supersymmetry and representations thereof. Advanced topics that I hope to touch upon towards the end of the course are the relation to complex geometry, supergravity, superstring theory et.c.

Time: Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:15 to 12:00, between 24 October and 22 November 2007.

Place: Nordita seminar room

INTRODUCTORY LECTURES ON STRING THEORY

Paolo Di Vecchia (Nordita)

These lectures are for people who do not know anything about string theory and who want to know some basic elements. The first lectures will deal with (1) Why do we speak about string theory? (2) Introduction to the bosonic string and its physical spectrum.

First lecture: Thursday, 18 October 2007 from 10:00 to 11:00.

Place: Nordita seminar room