An Intuitive Approach to Quantum Field Theory

by Toni Sementana

The development of Quantum Field Theory is surely one of the most important achievements in modern physics. Presently, all observational evidence points to the fact that Quantum Field Theory (QFT) provides a good description of all known elementary particles, as well as for particle physics beyond the Standard Model for energies ranging up to the Planck scale ~ 10^19 GeV, where quantum gravity is expected to set in and presumably requires a new and different description. Historically, Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) emerged as the prototype of modern QFT’s. It was developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s chiefly by Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga, and is perhaps the most successful theory in the anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the electron predicted by QED agrees with experiment with a stunning accuracy of one part in 10^12! The scope of this book is to provide an intuitive approach to the main formalism of Quantum Field Theory, namely path integral formulation upon which many fundamental and often misunderstood results are based. This program is best explained by starting the discussion with the quantum theory of scalar fields.

146 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2019