Anyons. Quantum mechanics of particles with fractional statistics (Q4024043)

This book is a survey of the various facets of particles with fractional statistics known under the technical name ``anyons'' and is divided into nine chapters: 1. Introduction; 2. Introduction to fractional statistics in two dimensions; 3. Fractional statistics in the Chern-Simons gauge; 4. Fractional statistics in the anyons gauge; 5. Non-relativistic Chern- Simons field theory; 6. Anyons in a magnetic field; 7. Statistical mechanics of anyons; 8. Anyons and the fractional quantum Hall effect; 9. Anyons and conformal field theories. In addition there is a list of 165 references. The first half of the book consisting of four Chapters sets the level and tone of the book. The author then immediately gets into the business by discussing the \(N\)-body problem for anyons in the presence of an external field. This is perhaps the best part of the book and is highly commended to graduate students wishing to be inducted into this subject. Quantum mechanics of the many body problem is discussed threadbare and calculations are explicitly performed. This is followed by a brief discussion of the difficulties that arise when we proceed to obtain explicitly the partition functions. Then the author proceeds to discuss quantum Hall effect, a topic on which fractional statistics has made the biggest impact. On the whole, the book is an authentic account of the state of art of fractional statistics and a good starting point for those who pursue research. The first few chapters provide the mathematical setting; however, the author would have done well by providing a more explicit and detailed account of the braid group. The book lacks an index and its addition would have enriched the book, in spite of its small size. On the whole the book is a readable, authentic and objective oriented account of the anyons.