1st Edition

An Introduction To Quantum Field Theory

    868 Pages
    by CRC Press

    864 Pages
    by CRC Press

    An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory is a textbook intended for the graduate physics course covering relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, and Feynman diagrams. The authors make these subjects accessible through carefully worked examples illustrating the technical aspects of the subject, and intuitive explanations of what is going on behind the mathematics.

    After presenting the basics of quantum electrodynamics, the authors discuss the theory of renormalization and its relation to statistical mechanics, and introduce the renormalization group. This discussion sets the stage for a discussion of the physical principles that underlie the fundamental interactions of elementary particle physics and their description by gauge field theories.

    Part I: Feyman Diagrams and Quantum Elctrodynamics



    Invitation: Pair Production in e * r e ~ Annihilation



    The Klein Gordon Field



    The Dirac Field



    Interacting Fields and Feynman Diagrams



    Elementary Processes of Quantum Electrodynamics



    Radiative Corrections: Introduction



    Radiative Corrections: Some Formal Developments



    Part II: Renormalization



    Invitation: Ultraviolet Cutoffs and Critical Flucutations



    Functional Methods



    Systematics of Renormalization



    Renormalization and Symmetry



    The Renormalization Group



    Critical Exponents and Scalar Field Theory



    Part III: Non-Abelian Gauge Theories



    Invitation: The Parton Model of Hadron Structure



    Non-Abelian Gauge Invariance



    Quantization of Non-Abelian Gauge Theories



    Quantum Chromodynamics



    Operator Products and Effective Vertices



    Pertubation Theory Anomalies



    Gauge Theories with Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking



    Quantization of Spontaneously Broken Gauge Theories



    Quantum Field Theory at the Frontier



     



     

    Biography

    Micheal E. Peskin received his doctorate in physics from Cornell University and has held research appointments in theoretical physics at Harvard, Cornell, and CEN Saclay. In 1982, he joined the stafff of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, where he is now Professor of Physics.



    Daniel V. Schroeder received his doctorate in physics from Stanford University in 1990. He held visiting appointments at Pomona College and Grinnell College before joining the faculty of Weber State University, where he is now Associate Professor of Physics.