Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell

An esteemed researcher and acclaimed popular author takes up the challenge of providing a clear, relatively brief, and fully up-to-date introduction to one of the most vital but notoriously difficult subjects in theoretical physics. A quantum field theory text for the twenty-first century, this book makes the essential tool of modern theoretical physics available to any student who has completed a course on quantum mechanics and is eager to go on. Quantum field theory was invented to deal simultaneously with special relativity and quantum mechanics, the two greatest discoveries of early twentieth-century physics, but it has become increasingly important to many areas of physics. These days, physicists turn to quantum field theory to describe a multitude of phenomena. Stressing critical ideas and insights, Zee uses numerous examples to lead students to a true conceptual understanding of quantum field theory--what it means and what it can do. He covers an unusually diverse range of topics, including various contemporary developments, while guiding readers through thoughtfully designed problems. In contrast to previous texts, Zee incorporates gravity from the outset and discusses the innovative use of quantum field theory in modern condensed matter theory. Without a solid understanding of quantum field theory, no student can claim to have mastered contemporary theoretical physics. Offering a remarkably accessible conceptual introduction, this text will be widely welcomed and used. A Quantum Field Theory Text For The Twenty-first Century, This Book Makes The Essential Tool Of Modern Theoretical Physics Available To Any Student Who Has Completed A Course On Quantum Mechanics And Is Eager To Go On. Without A Solid Understanding Of Quantum Field Theory, No Student Can Claim To Have Mastered Contemporary Theoretical Physics. Offering A Remarkably Accessible Conceptual Introduction, This Text Will Be Widely Welcomed And Used.--jacket. Convention, Notation, And Units -- Motivation And Foundation. Who Needs It? -- Path Integral Formulation Of Quantum Physics -- From Mattress To Field -- From Field To Particle To Force -- Coulomb And Newton : Repulsion And Attraction -- Inverse Square Law And The Floating 3-brane -- Feynman Diagrams -- Quantizing Canonically And Disturbing The Vacuum -- Symmetry -- Field Theory In Curved Spacetime -- Field Theory Redux -- Dirac And The Spinor. The Dirac Equation -- Quantizing The Dirac Field -- Lorentz Group And Weyl Spinors -- Spin-statistics Connection -- Vacuum Energy, Grassmann Integrals, And Feynman Diagrams For Fermions -- Electron Scattering And Gauge Invariance -- Diagrammatic Proof Of Gauge Invariance -- Renormalization And Gauge Invariance. Cutting Off Our Ignorance -- Renormalizable Versus Nonrenormalizable -- Counterterms And Physical Perturbation Theory -- Gauge Invariance : A Photon Can Find No Rest -- Field Theory Without Relativity -- The Magnetic Moment Of The Electron -- Polarizing The Vacuum And Renormalizing The Charge -- Symmetry And Symmetry Breaking. Symmetry Breaking -- The Pion As A Nambu-goldstone Boson -- Effective Potential -- Magnetic Monopole -- Nonabelian Gauge Theory -- The Anderson-higgs Mechanism -- Chiral Anomaly -- Field Theory And Collective Phenomena. Superfluids -- Euclid, Boltzmann, Hawking, And Field Theory At Finite Temperature -- Landau-ginzburg Theory Of Critical Phenomena -- Superconductivity -- Peierls Instability -- Solitons -- Vortices, Monopoles, And Instantons -- Field Theory And Condensed Matter. Fractional Statistics, Chern-simons Term, And Topological Field Theory -- Quantum Hall Fluids -- Duality -- The [sigma] Models As Effective Field Theories -- Ferromagnets And Antiferromagnets -- Surface Growth And Field Theory -- Disorder : Replicas And Grassmannian Symmetry -- Renormalization Group Flow As A Natural Concept In High Energy And Condensed Matter Physics -- Grand Unification. Quantizing Yang-mills Theory And Lattice Gauge Theory -- Electroweak Unification -- Quantum Chromodynamics -- Large N Expansion -- Grand Unification -- Protons Are Not Forever -- So (10) Unification -- Gravity And Beyond. Gravity As A Field Theory And The Kaluza-klein Picture -- The Cosmological Constant Problem And The Cosmic Coincidence Problem -- Effective Field Theory Approach To Understanding Nature -- Supersymmetry : A Very Brief Introduction -- A Glimpse Of String Theory As A 2-dimensional Field Theory -- Closing Words -- Appendixes: A. Gaussian Integration And The Central Identity Of Quantum Field Theory -- B. A Brief Review Of Group Theory -- C. Feynman Rules -- D. Various Identities And Feynman Integrals -- E. Dotted And Undotted Indices And The Majorana Spinor. A. Zee. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 501-503) And Index. Quantum field theory was invented to deal simultaneously with special relativity and quantum mechanics. This book offers an introduction to this difficult in theoretical physics. A quantum field theory text for the 21st-century, it is useful for any student who has completed a course on quantum mechanics and is eager to go on.