An Introduction To Quantum Field Theory

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 ElctrodynamicsInvitation: Pair Production in e * r e ~ AnnihilationThe Klein Gordon FieldThe Dirac FieldInteracting Fields and Feynman DiagramsElementary Processes of Quantum Electrodynamics Radiative Corrections: IntroductionRadiative Corrections: Some Formal DevelopmentsPart II: RenormalizationInvitation: Ultraviolet Cutoffs and Critical FlucutationsFunctional MethodsSystematics of RenormalizationRenormalization and SymmetryThe Renormalization GroupCritical Exponents and Scalar Field TheoryPart III: Non-Abelian Gauge TheoriesInvitation: The Parton Model of Hadron StructureNon-Abelian Gauge InvarianceQuantization of Non-Abelian Gauge TheoriesQuantum ChromodynamicsOperator Products and Effective VerticesPertubation Theory AnomaliesGauge Theories with Spontaneous Symmetry BreakingQuantization of Spontaneously Broken Gauge TheoriesQuantum Field Theory at the Frontier

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.