The goal of this course is to introduce string theory. 

Statistical physics is witnessing a revolution : understanding the dynamics of a very large number of interactive degrees of freedom, which has been from the beginning the main aim of statistical physics, has become now a central problem in many fields such as physics, biology, computer science, just to cite a few.

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is one of the cornerstones of modern physics, encompassing Quantum Mechanics and Relativity in an unique coherent framework, providing the logical foundations  of high energy physics. QFT has found applications in almost any branch of modern theoretical physics, from particle physics to cosmology, from gravity to statistical mechanics,  and even beyond. 

Many physical systems exhibit phase transitions, i.e. abrupt changes in their properties when a parameter crosses a threshold value: a fluid changes from a liquid to a gaseous state at the evaporation temperature, a magnet loses its magnetic properties at the Curie temperature, and so on.

The first aim of these lectures will be to give a brief overview of the physical and dynamical mechanisms which determine Earth’s climate. We will start with the atmospheric radiative transfer and the energy fluxes provided by the fluid dynamics of the atmosphere and the oceans.

The course provides an introduction to the physics of living systems.

Many physical phenomena are modeled at a macroscopic level by partial differential equations, in domains as diverse as fluid and solid mechanics,  electromagnetism, general relativity, quantum mechanics or astrophysics. These are mathematical expressions which impose a relation between partial derivatives of one or several multivariable functions. This course is meant as an introduction to numerical methods for the approximation of solutions to partial differential equations.