Thermal Field Theory

Abstract

During last few years, there has been a lot of interest in various phenomena at finite temperature, in quantum field theories. These include the early universe cosmology [1,2], astrophysics of compact stars [3] as well as the experimental programs in relativistic heavy-ion collisions in the context of quark gluon plasma (QGP) [4]. The theoretical framework for studying/ analyzing equilibrium or nearly equilibrium properties is thermal field theory. The formalism for such field theoretical investigations dates back to Matsubara, the so called “imaginary time formulation” of thermal field theories. Around mid 1960’s Sillin [5], Fradkin [6] generalized the non-relativistic thermal field theories to relativistic systems. In early seventies Kirznits and Linde developed this for applications in electroweak phase transition in early universe [7]. Around 1975 Collins and Perry developed perturbative methods in thermal filed theory applied to QCD [8].