Quantum electrodynamics : with 57 worked examples and exercises

Since the need for a third edition of this book has arisen, we have endeavoured to improve and extend it in several ways. At many places small changes were made, misprints have been corrected, and references have been added. In Chap. 5 new theoretical and experimental results on the Lamb shift in heavy atoms and on the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon are reported. We have also added a number of new topics in Chaps. 3, 5, and 7 in the form of examples and exercises. Example 3. 19 contains a detailed treatment of electron-positron pair production in the collision of a high-energy photon with a laser beam. This is supplemented by Exercise 3. 20 where a closed solution of the Dirac equation in the field of a plane wave is derived. Furthermore, Example 5. 4 on the running coupling constant in QED and Example 7. 6 on the supercritial point charge prob­ lem have been added. Finally, Example 7. 8 treats the birefringence of the QED vacuum in a strong magnetic field. We thank all colleagues and readers who have informed us about misprints in the book and are grateful to the team at Springer-Verlag for expertly handling the preparation of this new edition. Frankfurt am Main, Walter Greiner August 2002 Joachim Reinhardt Preface to the Second Edition The need for a second edition of our text on Quantum Electrodynamics has given us the opportunity to implement some corrections and amendments. 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.

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.

This completely revised and corrected new edition provides several new examples and exercises to enable deeper insight in formalism and application of Quantum electrodynamics. It 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 new examples and exercises to enable deeper insight into the formalism and application of quantum electrodynamics. It 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 its relativistic versions Subsequently, a large number of scattering and radiation progresses involving electrons, positrons, and photons are introduced and their theoretical treatment is presented in great detail. Higher-order processes and renormalization are also included as is the quantum electrodynamics of strong fields. The book concludes with a discussion of two-particle states and the interaction of spinless bosons."--Cover 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.