Quantum field theory for the gifted amateur / Tom Lancaster, Stephen J. Blundell.
| Author/creator |
Lancaster, Tom author. |
| Other author/creator | Blundell, Stephen, 1967- author. |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014. |
| Description | xvii, 485 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Subject(s) |
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| Contents | Lagrangians -- Simple harmonic oscillators -- Occupation number representation -- Making second quantization work -- Continuous systems -- A first stab at relativistic quantum mechanics -- Examples of Lagrangians, or how to write down a theory -- The passage of time -- Quantum mechanical transformations -- Symmetry -- Canonical quantization of fields -- Examples of canonical quantization -- Fields with many components and massive electromagnetism -- Gauge fields and gauge theory -- Discrete transformations -- Propagators and Green's functions -- Propagators and fields -- The S-matrix -- Expanding the S-matrix : Feynman diagrams -- Scattering theory -- Statistical physics : a crash course -- The generating functional for fields -- Path integrals : I said to him, "You're crazy" -- Field integrals -- Statistical field theory -- Broken symmetry -- Coherent states -- Grassmann numbers : coherent states and the path integral for fermions -- Topological objects -- Topological field theory -- Renormalization, quasiparticles and the Fermi surface -- Renormalization : the problem and its solution -- Renormalization in action : propagators and Feynman diagrams -- The renormalization group -- Ferromagnetism : a renormalization group tutorial -- The Dirac equation -- How to transform a spinor -- The quantum Dirac field -- A rough guide to quantum electrodynamics -- QED scattering : three famous cross-sections -- The renormalization of QED and two great results -- Superfluids -- The many-body problem and the metal -- Superconductors -- The fractional quantum Hall fluid -- Non-abelian gauge theory -- The Weinberg-Salam model -- Majorana fermions -- Magnetic monopoles -- Instantons, tunnelling and the end of the world. |
| Abstract | Quantum field theory is arguably the most far-reaching and beautiful physical theory ever constructed, with aspects more stringently tested and verified to greater precision than any other theory in physics. Unfortunately, the subject has gained a notorious reputation for difficulty, with forbidding looking mathematics and a peculiar diagrammatic language described in an array of unforgiving, weighty textbooks aimed firmly at aspiring professionals. However, quantum field theory is too important, too beautiful, and too engaging to be restricted to the professionals. This book on quantum field theory is designed to be different. It is written by experimental physicists and aims to provide the interested amateur with a bridge from undergraduate physics to quantum field theory. The imagined reader is a gifted amateur, possessing a curious and adaptable mind, looking to be told an entertaining and intellectually stimulating story, but who will not feel patronised if a few mathematical niceties are spelled out in detail. Using numerous worked examples, diagrams, and careful physically motivated explanations, this book will smooth the path towards understanding the radically different and revolutionary view of the physical world that quantum field theory provides, and which all physicists should have the opportunity to experience. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 467-472) and index. |
| Genre/form | Lehrbuch. |
| Genre/form | Handbooks, manuals, etc. |
| Genre/form | Problems, exercises, etc. |
| LCCN | 2013950755 |
| ISBN | 019969933X (pbk.) |
| ISBN | 9780199699339 (pbk.) |
| ISBN | 0199699321 (hbk.) |
| ISBN | 9780199699322 (hbk.) |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Joyner | General Stacks | QC174.45 .L36 2014 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |