Quantum Field Theory - by Eduardo Fradkin (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Quantum field theory is the mathematical and conceptual framework that describes the physics of the very small, including subatomic particles and quasiparticles. It is used to address a range of problems across subfields, from high-energy physics and gravitation to statistical physics and condensed matter physics. Despite the breadth of its applications, however, the teaching of quantum field theory has historically been strongly oriented toward high-energy physics students, while others-particularly in condensed matter and statistical physics-are typically taught in a separate course, or take an alternate sequence in many-body and statistical physics. Author Eduardo Fradkin strongly believes that this separation is both artificial and detrimental to all groups' understanding of quantum field theory. This textbook, developed from a graduate course Fradkin has taught for decades at the University of Illinois, offers a new, "multicultural" approach to the subject that seeks to remedy this fragmentation. It covers both basic techniques and topics at the frontiers of current research, and integrates modern concepts and examples from high-energy, statistical, and condensed-matter physics alike. Extensive problem sets further illustrate applications across a range of subfields. The book will be suitable for students across physical subdisciplines who have mastered graduate-level quantum mechanics, and will be a useful reference for researchers"--

Book Synopsis

The only graduate-level textbook on quantum field theory that fully integrates perspectives from high-energy, condensed-matter, and statistical physics

Quantum field theory was originally developed to describe quantum electrodynamics and other fundamental problems in high-energy physics, but today has become an invaluable conceptual and mathematical framework for addressing problems across physics, including in condensed-matter and statistical physics. With this expansion of applications has come a new and deeper understanding of quantum field theory--yet this perspective is still rarely reflected in teaching and textbooks on the subject. Developed from a year-long graduate course Eduardo Fradkin has taught for years to students of high-energy, condensed-matter, and statistical physics, this comprehensive textbook provides a fully "multicultural" approach to quantum field theory, covering the full breadth of its applications in one volume.

• Brings together perspectives from high-energy, condensed-matter, and statistical physics in both the main text and exercises
• Takes students from basic techniques to the frontiers of physics
• Pays special attention to the relation between measurements and propagators and the computation of cross sections and response functions
• Focuses on renormalization and the renormalization group, with an emphasis on fixed points, scale invariance, and their role in quantum field theory and phase transitions
• Other topics include non-perturbative phenomena, anomalies, and conformal invariance
• Features numerous examples and extensive problem sets
• Also serves as an invaluable resource for researchers

About the Author

Eduardo Fradkin is the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. An internationally recognized leader in theoretical physics and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, he is the author of Field Theories of Condensed Matter Physics.