The Conceptual Framework of Quantum Field Theory

NOTE EDITORE

The book attempts to provide an introduction to quantum field theory emphasizing conceptual issues frequently neglected in more "utilitarian" treatments of the subject. The book is divided into four parts, entitled respectively "Origins", "Dynamics", "Symmetries", and "Scales". The emphasis is conceptual - the aim is to build the theory up systematically from some clearly stated foundational concepts - and therefore to a large extent anti-historical, but two historical Chapters ("Origins") are included to situate quantum field theory in the larger context of modern physical theories. The three remaining sections of the book follow a step by step reconstruction of this framework beginning with just a few basic assumptions: relativistic invariance, the basic principles of quantum mechanics, and the prohibition of physical action at a distance embodied in the clustering principle. The ``Dynamics" section of the book lays out the basic structure of quantum field theory arising from the sequential insertion of quantum-mechanical, relativistic and locality constraints. The central role of symmetries in relativistic quantum field theories is explored in the third section of the book, while in the final section, entitled "Scales", we explore in detail the feature of quantum field theories most critical for their enormous phenomenological success - the scale separation property embodied by the renormalization group properties of a theory defined by an effective local Lagrangian.The book includes a wide range of problems at chapter ends. Solutions can be requested via the publisher's web site.

SOMMARIO

1 - From the Arrow of Time to the First Quantum Field2 - Gestation and Birth of Interacting Field Theory- From Dirac to Shelter Island3 - The Physical Ingredients of Quantum Field Theory - Dynamics, Symmetries, Scales4 - Quantum Mechanical Preliminaries5 - Relativistic Quantum Mechanics6 - Aspects of Locality - Clustering, Microcausality, and Analyticity7 - Construction of Local Covariant Fields8 - The Classical Limit of Quantum Fields9 - Interacting Fields- General Aspects10 - Interacting Fields- Perturbative Aspects11 - Interacting Fields - Nonperturbative Aspects12 - Continuous Space-time Symmetry - Why we need Lagrangians in Field Theory13 - Discrete Space-time Symmetries14 - Global Symmetries in Field Theory15 - Local Symmetries in Field Theory16 - Scale Sensitivity of Field Theory Amplitudes and Effective Field Theories17 - Perturbatively Renormalizable Field Theories18 - Short-distance Structure of Quantum Field Theory19 - Long-distance Structure of Quantum Field Theory

AUTORE

Anthony Duncan is Professor of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9780199573264
• Dimensioni: 250 x 44.7 x 188 mm Ø 1712 gr
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Illustration Notes: 101 b/w line drawings
• Pagine Arabe: 794