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'It is very strongly recommended to anyone seeking an elementary introduction to modern approaches to quantum field theory.' Physics Bulletin
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This book is a modern pedagogic introduction to the ideas and techniques of quantum field theory. After a brief overview of particle physics and a survey of relativistic wave equations and Lagrangian methods, the quantum theory of scalar and spinor fields, and then of gauge fields, is developed. The emphasis throughout is on functional methods, which have played a large part in modern field theory. The book concludes with a brief survey of 'topological' objects in field theory and, new to this edition, a chapter devoted to supersymmetry.
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Quantum field theory has traditionally been a pursuit of particle physicists. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Quantum field theory has traditionally been a pursuit of particle physicists. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was my first text in quantum field theory. And learned a great deal from it in grad school. I bought several QFT books since then. While this book is detailed (semi-proof of renormalizability of QED etc.), it doesn't really discuss the concepts behind it very much, like what is the physical meaning of 'second quantization' and why do it at all. A better introduction, I think is Kaku's Quantum Field Theory, with more legible typefaces, clear exposition of the concepts so you will remember things better later on and lots of examples. Some might say it's easier, but kaku's book taught me something beyond the technical aspects of QFT. But still, Ryder's book is much better than a lot of other books on QFT.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lewis Ryder's Quantum Field Theory is a strange book: the chapter about single-particle equations is probably the best in the literature, but the chapters about quantisation are poor. Also there are no exercises in the book, and I think that every serious physics book should contain some exercises and questions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This textbook is probably one of the most readable books on Quantum Field Theory. The level of formalism and mathematical complexity varies from chapter to chapter, which has its virtues and drawbacks. The chapters that are not too math-heavy are usually the more intelligible ones, and they present the otherwise fairly arcane material in a very accessible and physically-motivated fashion. On the other hand these chapters leave out a lot of calculation or just skim through those somewhat superficially. If you are trying to learn Quantum Field Theory so that you become proficient enough to pursue research in this field, then you may find this lack of detail frustrating.
One of the virtues of this book are the extended references that can be found at the ends of chapters. These refer both to the original research papers and other books that may cover the same material in more depth or with a different approach. These references are invaluable in their own right, and make this book a great resource to have.
The last chapter focuses on supersymmetry. This could be viewed as a somewhat controversial choice of topic to be included in a textbook that covers the fundamentals of quantum field theory. Supersymmetry, despite decades of theoretical investigation, so far has not yielded a single observable verification. There might be something in the claims of its proponents that it has a very appealing conceptual and mathematical structure, but even its simplest formulation that have any bearing on the real world are so complex that any traces of conceptual simplicity are irrevocably lost. However, whatever your feelings about supersymmetry might be, this chapter is valuable in its own right, since it gives a lot of interesting mathematics that are relevant to fermionic and bosonic fields in general.
One big problem that I have with this book as a textbook is a total lack of problems and exercises. As such is probably not well suited as a primary book for learning this material. Nonetheless, there are some detailed calculations of some important formal results, and these can be used in conjunction with other textbooks.
I would recommend this book to be used as a secondary study material for an introductory course on Quantum Field Theory. This way all of its strong points would be utilized, while its few weaknesses would not be an obstacle to fully absorbing otherwise very difficult material.
One of the virtues of this book are the extended references that can be found at the ends of chapters. These refer both to the original research papers and other books that may cover the same material in more depth or with a different approach. These references are invaluable in their own right, and make this book a great resource to have.
The last chapter focuses on supersymmetry. This could be viewed as a somewhat controversial choice of topic to be included in a textbook that covers the fundamentals of quantum field theory. Supersymmetry, despite decades of theoretical investigation, so far has not yielded a single observable verification. There might be something in the claims of its proponents that it has a very appealing conceptual and mathematical structure, but even its simplest formulation that have any bearing on the real world are so complex that any traces of conceptual simplicity are irrevocably lost. However, whatever your feelings about supersymmetry might be, this chapter is valuable in its own right, since it gives a lot of interesting mathematics that are relevant to fermionic and bosonic fields in general.
One big problem that I have with this book as a textbook is a total lack of problems and exercises. As such is probably not well suited as a primary book for learning this material. Nonetheless, there are some detailed calculations of some important formal results, and these can be used in conjunction with other textbooks.
I would recommend this book to be used as a secondary study material for an introductory course on Quantum Field Theory. This way all of its strong points would be utilized, while its few weaknesses would not be an obstacle to fully absorbing otherwise very difficult material.
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