Quantum Electrodynamics

this Textbook On Quantum Electrodynamics Is A Thorough Introductory Text Providing All Necessary Mathematical Tools Together With Many Examples And Worked Problems. In Their Presentation Of The Subject The Authors Adopt A Heuristic Approach Based On The Propagator Formalism. The Latter Is Introduced In The First Two Chapters In Both Its Nonrelativistic And Relativistic Versions. Subsequently, A Large Number Of Scattering And Radiation Processes Involving Electrons, Positrons, And Photons Are Introduced And Their Theoretical Treatment Is Presented In Great Detail. Higher Order Processes And Renormalization Are Also Included. The Book Concludes With A Discussion Of Two-particle States And The Interaction Of Spinless Bosons. This Completely Revised And Corrected New Edition Provides Several Additions To Enable Deeper Insight In Formalism And Application Of Quantum Electrodynamics. Cover ......Page 1 Foreword to Earlier Series Editions......Page 7 Preface to the Fourth Edition......Page 9 Preface to the Third Edition......Page 10 Preface to the Second Edition......Page 11 Preface to the First Edition......Page 12 Contents......Page 15 Contents of Examples and Exercises......Page 17 Introduction......Page 19 The Nonrelativistic Propagator......Page 20 Green's Function and Propagator......Page 21 An Integral Equation for psi......Page 24 Application to Scattering Problems......Page 30 The Unitarity of the S Matrix......Page 38 Symmetry Properties of the S Matrix......Page 39 The Green's Function in Momentum Representation......Page 41 Another Look at the Green's Function......Page 47 Biographical Notes......Page 56 The Propagators for Electrons and Positrons......Page 57 Coulomb Scattering of Electrons......Page 95 Scattering of an Electron off a Free Proton: The Effect of Recoil......Page 114 Scattering of Identical Fermions......Page 149 Electron-Positron Scattering......Page 157 Scattering of Polarized Dirac Particles......Page 168 Bremsstrahlung......Page 175 Compton Scattering - The Klein-Nishina Formula......Page 195 Annihilation of Particle and Antiparticle......Page 208 Biographical Notes......Page 257 Summary: The Feynman Rules of QED......Page 261 The Feynman Rules of QED in Momentum Space......Page 262 The Photon Propagator in Different Gauges......Page 266 Biographical Notes......Page 271 Electron-Positron Scattering in Fourth Order......Page 273 Vacuum Polarization......Page 275 Self-Energy of the Electron......Page 309 The Vertex Correction......Page 316 Biographical Notes......Page 345 The Bethe-Salpeter Equation......Page 347 Biographical Notes......Page 377 Quantum Electrodynamics of Strong Fields......Page 379 Strong Fields in Atoms......Page 382 Strong Fields in Heavy Ion Collisions......Page 410 The Effective Lagrangian of the Electromagnetic Field......Page 420 Biographical Notes......Page 442 Quantum Electrodynamics of Spinless Bosons......Page 443 The Klein-Gordon Equation......Page 444 The Feynman Propagator for Scalar Particles......Page 445 The Scattering of Spin-0 Bosons......Page 447 The Feynman Rules of Scalar Electrodynamics......Page 452 Appendix......Page 459 Subject Index......Page 461 We are pleased by the positive resonance of our book which now necessitates a fourth edition. We have used this opportunity to implement corrections of misprints and amendments at several places, and to extend and improve the discussion of many of the exercises and examples. We hope that our presentation of the method of equivalent photons (Example 3. 17), the form factor of the electron (Example 5. 7), the infrared catastrophe (Example 5. 8) and the energy shift of atomic levels (Example 5. 9)arenow even better to understand. The new Exercise 5. 10 shows in detail how to arrive at the non-relativistic limit for the calculation of form factors. Moreover, we have brought up-to-date the Biographical Notes about physicists who have contributed to the dev- opment of quantum electrodynamics, and references to experimental tests of the t- ory. For example, there has been recent progress in the determination of the electric and magnetic form factors of the proton (discussed in Exercise 3. 5 on the Rosenbluth formula) and the Lamb shift of high-Z atoms (discussed in Example 5. 9 on the energy shift of atomic levels), while the experimental veri cation of the birefringence of the QED vacuum in a strong magnetic eld (Example 7. 8) remains unsettled and is a topic of active ongoing research. A book on Quantum Electrodynamics that provides the necessary mathematical tools together with many examples and worked problems. It introduces various number of scattering and radiation processes involving electrons, positrons, and photons; and also presents their theoretical treatment.