Lectures on 2D yang-mills theory, equivariant cohomology and topological field theories

Abstract

These are expository lectures reviewing (1) recent developments in two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory, and (2) the construction of topological field theory Lagrangians. Topological field theory is discussed from the point of view of infinite-dimensional differential geometry. We emphasize the unifying role of equivariant cohomology both as the underlying principle in the formulation of BRST transformation laws and as a central concept in the geometrical interpretation of topological field theory path integrals.