Introduction to quantum field theory

Authors V. G. Kiselev, Ya. Shnir, A. Ya. Tregubovich

Publication date 3 April 2001

Coleman-Weinberg effective action Faddeev-Popov quantization gauge fields instantons kinks loop expansion monopoles path integrals quantum fields statistical physics Yang-Mills equations

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to quantum theory (81-01) Path integrals in quantum mechanics (81S40) Axiomatic quantum field theory; operator algebras (81T05) Quantum field theory; related classical field theories (81Txx)

Review text

This book addresses topics appropriate for advanced graduate students specializing in theoretical physics. It is based on lectures given to students of the Belarusian University. All three of the authors have given the course at different times with special emphasis on links between quantum fields and statistical physics. What strikes the eye is that the scope is rather narrow: only the simplest possible field models (e.g. \(\phi^4\) theory) have been used to illustrate the general concepts. Central to the presentation is the effective action (likewise the free energy in statistical physics) and the loop expansion obtained from the path integral, though in calculations the authors do not venture beyond the one-loop level.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe book has three parts. Part I deals with path integrals in quantum mechanics, Part II with the passage from classical to quantum fields, the construction of the effective action and renormalization, while Part III contains a collection of more advanced topics, some of them in a sketchy manner: fermionic path integrals, gauge fields and Yang-Mills equations, Faddeev-Popov quantization, the Coleman-Weinberg effective action, monopoles, instantons and kinks.

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