Applications to Quantum Field Theory

Abstract

In this chapter we shall discuss various aspects of quantum field theory which can be formulated in the framework developed in Chapters 1 to 5. We begin with this section containing an introduction to quantum field theory, which is intended to give the reader an idea about the basic questions and notions in this area. Here we make a number of heuristic and informal considerations, referring to the pertaining literature for mathematically more rigorous treatments (when available). For a general background on quantum field theory which is more oriented towards physics we refer to the books of Bjorken and Drell (1965), Bogoliubov and Shirkov (1959), Itzykson and Zuber (1980), Schweber (1961). Mathematically rigorous treatments of the foundations of quantum field theory are given in the monographs by Bogoliubov et al. (1975), Jost (1965) and Streater and Wightman (1964). Modern aspects of mathematical quantum field theory, in particular Euclidean quantum field theory, are treated in the books by Simon (1974), and Glimm and Jaffe (1981).