Quantum Field Theory

by Mark Srednicki

Quantum field theory is the basic mathematical framework that is used to describe elementary particles. This textbook provides a complete and essential introduction to the subject. Assuming only an undergraduate knowledge of quantum mechanics and special relativity, this book is ideal for graduate students beginning the study of elementary particles. The step-by-step presentation begins with basic concepts illustrated by simple examples, and proceeds through historically important results to thorough treatments of modern topics such as the renormalization group, spinor-helicity methods for quark and gluon scattering, magnetic monopoles, instantons, supersymmetry, and the unification of forces. The book is written in a modular format, with each chapter as self-contained as possible, and with the necessary prerequisite material clearly identified. It is based on a year-long course given by the author and contains extensive problems, with password protected solutions available to lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521864497.

Genres: Physics, Science, Textbooks, Mathematics, Nonfiction

665 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 25, 2007

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, overall, I use this book alongside "Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model" by Schwarz. Schwarz is good to get my head around a topic, and then I use Srednicki' s book to sink my teeth into maths and help me solve explicit problems.

Would not recommend this book to teach someone quantum field theory for the very first time.
That been said, it's a pretty good reference book, i.e., if you already have some understanding of the subject and the mathematical groundwork. Or, if you are using another book in parallel like I did. The chapter headings are very specific and the scope of the book is impressive for sure.

Now onto things that are important for a student: Towards the beginning of the book, calculations are done explicitly but then as you progress in the chapters, much is assumed. Steps are missed in derivations and it makes it hard for a student to follow.

The chapters are not self contained at all.
I found it difficult to just look up a certain topic and gain understanding on it, without reading many other chapters too (to his credit, Srednicki does list prerequisite chapters but if you go to that chapter, it too has a prerequisite... It's never ending!). This becomes quite time consuming.

Compared to other QFT textbooks, Srednicki seems to prefer a more mathematical-based approach to teaching, rather than an explanatory one. Coming from a Physics background, this didn't suit me and I found myself severely lacking the "Physics insight" into the maths I was doing. That's what Schwarz's book provided.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was initially excited by the fact that it seemed very well organized. It is broken up into sections: spin 0, spin 1/2, and spin 1. This is different than Peskin and Shroeder who work with half and integer spin particles side by side along the way. The nice thing about the book is that the calculations are done in detail. Unfortunately, he fails to say much in the way of what's actually going on. Exasperating that is the fact that his examples are so specific, that it's not much help unless you're actually doing the problem that he is working.

[Israeliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

The exercise to show that the winding number is a topological quantity, without the use of Chern-Simons current was amazing!

What I like the most of this book is that it is a physics book: it teach physics, not just receipts! The second reason is that from time to time it drops knowledge that should be standard but from some reason is not mentioned in many books unless they carry the word "advanced" in the title. And it teaches such concepts in a clear and straightforward way.

Unless you want to read Siegel's Fields (hep-th/9912205) this is the book to go for any QFT course.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be a pretty good intro to QFT. The important thing for real-world (i.e. outside of the classroom) use, though, is that it's easy to use as a reference. Each of the million topics discussed is in its own tiny little chapter, meaning I can browse through a large table of contents and quickly find exactly the thing I'm looking for.

[Lulu]

Quantum field theory — for when you get serious

[Skymeson Rolnick]

Not a bad book. There is a free version on the web somewhere.

[bathos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for QFT of introductory level. Way better than Peskin's book in my opinion.