String Theory is our current best candidate for the unification of all fundamental forces, including gravity, in a consistent quantum framework. In this collection of lectures delivered at the Carg se Summer School "String Theory: from Gauge Interactions to Cosmology'', world leading experts provide an up-to-date survey of the latest developments in this topic, including the gauge/gravity correspondence, superstring cosmology and cosmic strings, topological string theory and matrix models, physics beyond the standard model and the landscape of vacua of string theory, conformal field theory and critical phenomena in statistical mechanics. Many more topics are also discussed in shorter contributions by School participants. Written with an emphasis on pedagogy, this volume will be a invaluable resource to students and experts alike.

String Theory is our current best candidate for the unification of all fundamental forces, including gravity, in a consistent quantum framework. In this collection of lectures delivered at the Carg se Summer School "String Theory: from Gauge Interactions to Cosmology'', world leading experts provide an up-to-date survey of the latest developments in this topic, including the gauge/gravity correspondence, superstring cosmology and cosmic strings, topological string theory and matrix models, physics beyond the standard model and the landscape of vacua of string theory, conformal field theory and critical phenomena in statistical mechanics. Many more topics are also discussed in shorter contributions by School participants. Written with an emphasis on pedagogy, this volume will be a invaluable resource to students and experts alike.

Fractal Structure in 4d Gravity.- A One Dimensional Ideal Gas of Spinons, or Some Exact Results on the XXX Spin Chain with Long Range Interaction.- Kodaira-Spencer Theory of Gravity.- 3d Gravity and Gauge Theories.- On the W-Gravity Spectrum and its G-Structure.- Light-Cone Quantization of Matrix Models at c>1.- Multicritical Points of 2-Matrix Models.- The Super Self-Dual Matreoshka.- The Phenomenology of Strings and Clusters in the 3-d Ising Model.- Conformai Field Theory Techniques in Large N Yang-Mills Theory.- to Differential W-Geometry.- Topological Strings and QCD in Two Dimensions.- Continuum QCD2 in Terms of Discrete Random Surfaces with Local Weights.- Strings and Causality.- Loop Equation and Area Law in Turbulence.- The Two-Dimensional String as a Topological Field Theory.- Linear Systems for 2d Poincare Supergravities.- Quantization of Mirror Symmetry.- Integrable Qft2 Encoded on Products of Dynkin Diagrams.- Remarks on Topological String Theories.- Hamiltonian Reduction of the BRST Complex and N=2 SUSY.- Lattice Models and N=2 Supersymmetry.- Canonical Construction of Liouville Field Operators with Arbitrary Spin.- Bethe Ansatz for the Bloch Particle in Magnetic Field.