An introduction to differential forms and topological field theory
Abstract
In this thesis, we will use topological field theory to do an explicit computation of a one-loop partition function over a 6-dimensional manifold. This is a topological invariant, which can be used to distinguish geometries. To set us up for this task, we will introduce various topics in mathematics and physics. The topics covered are; manifolds, differential forms, cohomology, Hodge theory, Lagrangian formalism, and quantum field theory.