A Modern Introduction to Quantum Field Theory

Quantum field theory has undergone extraordinary developments in the last few decades and permeates many branches of modern research such as particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter, statistical mechanics and critical phenomena. This book introduces the reader to the modern developments in a manner which assumes no previous knowledge of quantum field theory.

Introduces the reader to the modern developments in quantum field theory. Along with standard topics like Feynman diagrams, this book discusses effective lagrangians, renormalization group equations, the path integral formulation, spontaneous symmetry breaking, and non-abelian gauge theories. It is suitable for graduate students and researchers.

All in all, Maggiore's approach is precisely the one that should be taken in an undergraduate course: Introduce the "big" ideas and leave the computational and thornier technical details for subsequent courses.

Autorentext
Michele Maggiore is Professor of Physics at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Klappentext

The importance and the beauty of modern quantum field theory resides in the power and variety of its methods and ideas, which find application in domains as different as particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter, statistical mechanics and critical phenomena. This book introduces the reader to the modern developments in a manner which assumes no previous knowledge of quantum field theory. Along with standard topics like Feynman diagrams, the book discusses effective lagrangians, renormalization group equations, the path integral formulation, spontaneous symmetry breaking and non-abelian gauge theories. The inclusion of more advanced topics will also make this a most useful book for graduate students and researchers.

Inhalt

1. Introduction; 2. Lorentz and Poincare symmetries in quantum field theory; 3. Classical field theory; 4. Quantization of free fields; 5. Perturbation theory and Feynman diagrams; 6. Cross sections and decay rates; 7. Quantum electrodynamics; 8. The low-energy limit of the electroweak theory; 9. Path integral quantization; 10. Non-Abelian gauge theories; 11. Spontaneous symmetry breaking