Quantum Field Theory
This is a personal page for gathering study materials related to quantum field theory (QFT).
Online QFT notes:
David Tong – Quantum Field Theory
Standard first semester topics (culminating in QED) presently clearly from a canonical quantization viewpoint. Thorough lecture notes, lecture videos, and problem sets available.
Alex Maloney – Quantum Field Theory I and Quantum Field Theory II
First semester: road to QED developed using both canonical quantization and path integrals, with an emphasis on the latter. Feynman rules derived using path integrals. Great lecture notes + videos (notes were written and recorded in-lecture, making them easy to follow) and problem sets.
Second semester: Renormalization, Yang-Mills (including some electroweak and QCD), spontaneous symmetry breaking. Lots of meaty calculations and interesting problems.
Warren Siegel – Fields
QFT done completely differently than anywhere else, with an eye towards high energy research (strings, quantum gravity, exotic field theories, etc). All path integrals, old topics covered in new/clever ways (ex: short Lamb shift calculation), and lots of advanced topics. Practice problems available throughout the text.
Srednicki – Quantum Field Theory
Thorough book which is free to read online, and covers all the standard topics, as well as many advanced topics. Many chapters, most of which can stand on their own (and if not, their prerequisites are listed), making this a great reference for many topics related to introductory QFT. Problems at the end of each chapter.
QFT developed completely from a condensed matter perspective. Topics discussed include phonons, magnetism, superfluids, and superconductivity. Problem sets, lecture notes, and abridged lecture notes available.
Older QFT courses:
Roy Glauber – Quantum Field Theory notes 1976-77 (Notes by Peter Woit of Columbia/”Not Even Wrong”)
Freeman Dyson – Advanced Quantum Theory 1951 (Also available in book form)
Sidney Coleman – Quantum Field Theory 1975-76 (Recently published as a book)
Core QFT books (study at least one of these):
Schwartz – Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model
All the standard topics (from QED to Yang-Mills) covered very clearly. If you could only use one book, I would use this one. Emphasis on effective field theories as an important way to think about QFT (making multiple times the important point that non-renormalizable effective theories can be predictive). End of the book dedicated to interesting aspects of Standard Model/QCD physics necessary to understand real collider experiments, including heavy quark and jet physics (and the author actively researches these topics, making him highly qualified to discuss them).
Peskin and Schroeder – An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory; errata
The standard text (for good reason). Peskin was a student of Ken Wilson, so the discussion of the renormalization group is stellar.
Other QFT books:
Klauber – Student Friendly Quantum Field Theory
A good ‘missing link’ intended for students with a typical undergrad QM course that may be confused by the typically difficult transition to QFT. Lots of discussion of common points of confusion (the how and why of the interaction picture, how QM relates to RQM relates to QFT, renormalization, etc). Only the canonical quantization of QED is discussed, but there are many calculations presented in gory detail (including many second-order calculations involving some renormalization). Lots of useful charts and tables.
Bedtime reading for the aspiring field theorist. Calculations usually not done in detail, but lots of focus on developing physical insight, and there are nuggets of wisdom throughout that you probably won’t see in other places.
Condensed Matter QFT:
Clear exposition (as is typical for Shankar) of QFT topics relevant for condensed matter applications, including the relationship between statistical and quantum mechanics, the Ising model in various dimensions (including a chapter on the exact solution for D = 2), the renormalization group, bosonization, and the quantum Hall effect.
The Doi-Peliti formalism for stochastic systems:
Some important papers:
- [Doi 1976] Second quantization representation for classical many-particle systems
- [Doi 1976] Stochastic theory of diffusion-controlled reaction
- [Peliti 1985] Path integral approach to birth-death processes on a lattice