A Modern Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Oxford Master Series in Physics)

Abstract

This new book on quantum field theory by Michele Maggiore fits well into the OxfordMaster Series in Physics, which is designed for final year undergraduate and beginninggraduate students in physics. It is based on the teaching experience of the author withstudents in the fourth year at the University of Geneva. In this sense it is a two-semestercourse book for students exposed to quantum field theory for the first time.Maggiore gives, on slightly less than 300 pages, a balanced introduction to a vast fieldof twentieth century physics that will help students going on to study more advanced andspecialized courses. Beside applications to many processes in particle physics that canalso be found in many other textbooks, the author emphasizes conceptual, structural andmethodological aspects of quantum field theory.After an introductory chapter, the group theoretical tools required to implement Lorentzinvariance in quantum field theory are developed on 30 pages. Chapter 3 is devoted toclassical field theory, emphasizing symmetries and conservation laws. The quantization offree fields in the next chapter follows traditional lines. Here one may miss a sectiondescribing the mathematical structure of the Fock space. It is also not said that ininfinite dimensions von Neumann's uniqueness theorem for the representations of thecanonical commutation relations no longer holds. The operations C, P, T are carefullydiscussed. In the relatively long chapter 5, perturbation theory and renormalization aredeveloped. In this context the author discusses the modern view on renormalizability, andalso emphasizes in a separate section the seriousness of the cosmological constantproblem in quantum field theory. The next three chapters provide applications of thetheory, especially to quantum electrodynamics and the low-energy limit of the electroweaktheory. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are meant as a bridge to more advanced courses. In these,path integral quantization, non-Abelian gauge theories and spontaneous symmetry breakingreceive a first treatment.The book is very well structured. At the end of each chapter a summary is given and some ofthem contain an instructive 'Solved Problems' section. The many exercises posed in the firsteight chapters are solved in a final chapter. This book by Michele Maggiore should become astandard text for a modern introduction to quantum field theory.