Mirror symmetry began when theoretical physicists made some astonishing predictions about rational curves on quintic hypersurfaces in four-dimensional projective space. Understanding the mathematics behind these predictions has been a substantial challenge. This book is the first completely comprehensive monograph on mirror symmetry, covering the original observations by the physicists through the most recent progress made to date. Subjects discussed include toric varieties, Hodge theory, Kahler geometry, moduli of stable maps, Calabi-Yau manifolds, quantum cohomology, Gromov-Witten invariants, and the mirror theorem. This title features: numerous examples worked out in detail; an appendix on mathematical physics; an exposition of the algebraic theory of Gromov-Witten invariants and quantum cohomology; and, a proof of the mirror theorem for the quintic threefold.

Mirror Symmetry has undergone dramatic progress since the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) workshop in 1991, whose proceedings constitute voluem I of this continuing collection. Tremendous insight has been gained on a number of key issues. This volume surveys these results. Some of the contributions in this work have appeared elsewhere, while others were written specifically for this collection. The areas covered are organized into 4 sections, and each presents papers by both physicists and mathematicians. This volume collects the most important developments that have taken place in mathematical physics since 1991. It is an essential reference tool for both mathematics and physics libraries and for students of physics and mathematics. Titles in this series are co-published, between the American Mathematical Society and International Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.

"This work is an outgrowth of a conference held at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on Regulators in Analysis, Geometry and Number Theory, and should appeal to a broad audience of graduate students and research mathematicians."--BOOK JACKET.