An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory

Michael E. Peskin and Daniel V. Schroeder

Š1995, Addison-Wesley Advanced Book Program (now Perseus Books)

[ overview | contents | corrections ]
This Web page contains basic information on the book An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory. For more information, see the reviews published in the August 1996 issue of Physics Today, the March 1997 issue of Cern Courier, and the July 1998 issue of the American Journal of Physics. The reviews on Amazon.com are also worth reading.

Overview

An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory is a textbook intended for the graduate course covering relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, and Feynman diagrams. The authors make this subject accessible through carefully worked examples illustrating the technical aspects of the subject, and intuitive explanations of what is going on behind the mathematics. After presenting the basics of quantum electrodynamics, the authors discuss the theory of renormalization and its relation to statistical mechanics, and introduce the renormalization group. This discussion sets the stage for a treatment of non-Abelian gauge theories and their use in describing the fundamental interactions of elementary particles.

Contents (summary)

       Preface                                                       xi
       Notations and Conventions                                    xix

Part I:  Feynman Diagrams and Quantum Electrodynamics

   1   Invitation:  Pair Production in e+e- Annihilation              3
   2   The Klein-Gordon Field                                        13
   3   The Dirac Field                                               35
   4   Interacting Fields and Feynman Diagrams                       77
   5   Elementary Processes of Quantum Electrodynamics              131
   6   Radiative Corrections:  Introduction                         175
   7   Radiative Corrections:  Some Formal Developments             211
       Final Project:  Radiation of Gluon Jets                      259

Part II:  Renormalization

   8   Invitation:  Ultraviolet Cutoffs and Critical Fluctuations   265
   9   Functional Methods                                           275
   10  Systematics of Renormalization                               315
   11  Renormalization and Symmetry                                 347
   12  The Renormalization Group                                    393
   13  Critical Exponents and Scalar Field Theory                   439   
       Final Project:  The Coleman-Weinberg Potential               469

Part III:  Non-Abelian Gauge Theories

   14  Invitation:  The Parton Model of Hadron Structure            473
   15  Non-Abelian Gauge Invariance                                 481
   16  Quantization of Non-Abelian Gauge Theories                   505
   17  Quantum Chromodynamics                                       545
   18  Operator Products and Effective Vertices                     599
   19  Perturbation Theory Anomalies                                651
   20  Gauge Theories with Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking            689
   21  Quantization of Spontaneously Broken Gauge Theories          731
       Final Project:  Decays of the Higgs Boson                    775

Epilogue

   22  Quantum Field Theory at the Frontier                         781

---------------

       Appendix:  Reference Formulae                                801

       Bibliography                                                 811
       Index                                                        817

Corrections to the book are contained in a separate web page. To view that page, click here.

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Last modified on October 17, 2005.