Lectures on Quantum Field Theory

This book comprises the lectures of a two-semester course on quantum field theory, presented in a quite informal and personal manner. The course starts with relativistic one-particle systems, and develops the basics of quantum field theory with an analysis on the representations of the Poincaré group. Canonical quantization is carried out for scalar, fermion, Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories. Covariant quantization of gauge theories is also carried out with a detailed description of the BRST symmetry. The Higgs phenomenon and the standard model of electroweak interactions are also developed systematically. Regularization and (BPHZ) renormalization of field theories as well as gauge theories are discussed in detail, leading to a derivation of the renormalization group equation. In addition, two chapters — one on the Dirac quantization of constrained systems and another on discrete symmetries — are included for completeness, although these are not covered in the two-semester course.This second edition includes two new chapters, one on Nielsen identities and the other on basics of global supersymmetry. It also includes two appendices, one on fermions in arbitrary dimensions and the other on gauge invariant potentials and the Fock-Schwinger gauge.Contents: PrefaceRelativistic EquationsSolutions of the Dirac EquationProperties of the Dirac EquationRepresentations of Lorentz and Poincaré GroupsFree Klein–Gordon Field TheorySelf-Interacting Scalar Field TheoryComplex Scalar Field TheoryDirac Field TheoryMaxwell Field TheoryDirac Method for Constrained SystemsDiscrete SymmetriesYang–Mills TheoryBRST Invariance and Its ConsequencesHiggs Phenomenon and the Standard ModelRegularization of Feynman DiagramsRenormalization TheoryRenormalization Group and EquationNielsen Identities and Gauge Independence of Physical ParametersBasics of Global SupersymmetryIndex
Readership: Graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics. Quantum Field Theory00