A primer for chiral perturbation theory. (Q630643)

The book under review gives a very good introduction into chiral perturbation theory. Chiral perturbation theory is an effective theory approximating the theory of strong interactions, quantum chromodynamics, at scales well below typical hadron masses. The book starts from quantum chromodynamics and carefully explains spontaneous symmetry breaking and the Goldstone theorem. With these prerequisites the standard chiral perturbation theory is then developed. The two last chapters of the book offer more advanced topics and treat chiral perturbation theory for baryons and applications thereof. The book is very pedagogical and can read by students and researchers interested in the topic. A basic course in quantum field theory will suffice to follow the arguments of the book. The book does not only contain many exercises, but also the solutions to them. After reading and working through the book one will have no problems in understanding the current research topics in chiral perturbation theory.