Gauge-String Dualities and Some Applications
arXiv:0803.1315
Abstract
The first part of these lectures contains an introductory review of the AdS/CFT duality and of its tests. Applications to thermal gauge theory are also discussed briefly. The second part is devoted to a review of gauge-string dualities based on various warped conifold backgrounds, and to their cosmological applications.
44 pages. Lectures delivered by I.R.K. at the Les Houches 2007 summer school ``String Theory and the Real World''