Modern Quantum Field Theory
A Concise Introduction

Introduction to field theory for graduates in high energy physics and condensed matter physics.

Tom Banks (Author)

9780521850827, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 September 2008

280 pages, 25 b/w illus. 80 exercises
25.2 x 19.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.76 kg

'Modern Quantum Field Theory: A Concise Introduction is a very ambitious and in many respects successful book. … Particularly appreciated was the modern treatment of the theory of renormalization, presenting the subject in a far more physical manner than many textbooks … the reader who takes time to make a full study of it will end up better and more deeply informed than they will from a study of most other introductory texts on the subject.' The Observatory

Presenting a variety of topics that are only briefly touched on in other texts, this book provides a thorough introduction to the techniques of field theory. Covering Feynman diagrams and path integrals, the author emphasizes the path integral approach, the Wilsonian approach to renormalization, and the physics of non-abelian gauge theory. It provides a thorough treatment of quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking, topics not usually covered in other texts at this level. The Standard Model of particle physics is discussed in detail. Connections with condensed matter physics are explored, and there is a brief, but detailed, treatment of non-perturbative semi-classical methods. Ideal for graduate students in high energy physics and condensed matter physics, the book contains many problems,which help students practise the key techniques of quantum field theory.

1. Introduction
2. Quantum theory of free scalar fields
3. Interacting field theory
4. Particles of spin one, and gauge invariance
5. Spin 1/2 particles and Fermi statistics
6. Massive quantum electrodynamics
7. Symmetries, Ward identities and Nambu Goldstone bosons
8. Non-abelian gauge theory
9. Renormalization and effective field theory
10. Instantons and solitons
11. Concluding remarks
Appendices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Mathematical physics [PHU], Particle & high-energy physics [PHP], Nuclear physics [PHN]