MAU44400 Quantum field theory
| Module Code | MAU44400 |
|---|---|
| Module Title | Quantum field theory |
| Semester taught | Semesters 1,2 (yearlong) |
| ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Module Lecturers |
Prof. Samson Shatashvili
Prof. Jan Manschot |
| Module Prerequisites |
MAU34404 Quantum mechanics II and
MAU34406 Statistical physics II |
Assessment Details
- This module is examined in a 3-hour examination at the end of Semester 2.
- Students are assessed based on the exam alone.
- Any failed components are reassessed, if necessary, by an exam in the reassessment session.
Contact Hours
11+11 weeks of teaching with 3 lectures per week.
Module Content
- Noether's theorem, the Klein-Gordon field and its quantisation.
- The Dirac field and its quantisation.
- Quantisation of constrained systems.
- The Maxwell field and its quantisation.
- Feynman diagram formalism for scalar ɸ4 theory.
- Feynman rules for Quantum Electrodynamics (QED).
- Elementary processes of QED.
- S-matrix: Scattering and decay.
- Trace technology.
- Crossing symmetry.
- Radiative corrections: Infrared and Ultraviolet divergences, Loop computations, LSZ reduction formula, Optical theorem, Ward-Takahashi identities.
- Renormalization of electric charge.
Required Reading
- Michael E. Pesking and Daniel V. Schroeder, An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, Westview Press.
- For constrained systems, see: P. A. M. Dirac, Lectures on Quantum Mechanics.
Recommended Reading
- L.D. Faddeev and A.A. Slavnov, Gauge Fields: Introduction to Quantum Theory, Cambridge University Press (1995).
- Steven Weinberg, The quantum theory of fields. Vol. 1; Foundations, Cambridge University Press (1995).
- N.N. Bogoliubov and D.V. Shirkov, Introduction to the theory of quantized fields, John Wiley & Sons (1959).
- James D. Bjorken, Sidney D. Drell, Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, McGraw-Hill College (1965).