Last updated 2008-Feb-1

Physics 552, Quantum Field Theory II, Spring 2008

Teaching

The course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11am-12noon in Crow 205.

Instructor: Prof. Mark Alford

Office: Compton 358; Phone: 5-5034; 
Office hour: Wednesday, 3-4pm. (Department colloquium is at 4pm.)
Students are also welcome to make appointments to see Prof. Alford at other times.

Books

Course Textbook: Quantum Field Theory by Mark Srednicki, ISBN 0-521-86449-6.
You must own a copy of this book: the course will follow it closely. There is a list of errata for the textbook at Mark Srednicki's web site. If you find an error in the textbook, Prof. Alford will be impressed. Please discuss it with him before sending an email to Prof. Srednicki.
Other useful books:
Quantum field theory  (Lowell Brown) Full and deep explanations. Very readable.
An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory  (Peskin & Schroeder) Another standard textbook, more calculational than conceptual.
Quantum field theory  (Lewis Ryder) Emphasizes particle physics applications.
Quantum field theory  (V.P. Nair) More mathematical, but still understandable.
Renormalization  (John Collins) Deeper discussion of this fundamental topic; discusses φ3 in 6D.
Quantum field theory in a nutshell  (A. Zee) Enjoyable collection of intuitive insights.

Course outline

This is the second semester of a two-semester sequence that introduces students to relativistic quantum mechanics, i.e. quantum field theory. This semester we will learn about spin-½ fermionic fields, which requires us to understand Grassmann numbers. We will study Weyl, Majorana, and Dirac fermions, then move on to spin-1 fields, Abelian gauge theories (quantum electrodynamics) and non-Abelian gauge fields (QCD and the electroweak interaction).

Grading

The final grade will be an average of homework (50%), and the final exam (50%).

Homework: Problem sets will be handed out every week. Students are expected to hand in the solutions on the due date, typically a Friday. Late homework will only be accepted by prior arrangement with Prof. Alford.
Students are encouraged to form study groups and discuss the homework with each other, but each student must formulate his or her own solutions.
To get full credit you need to give reasons why your answer is correct.
Students are encouraged to use software tools such as Mathematica, Maple, etc to perform and check their calculations. Please include printout showing how you used the program to to obtain your answers.
Final: The final exam will be a take-home exam, emailed out on Friday May 2nd, and handed back to Prof.~Alford or Joyce Myers by 11am on Monday May 5th.
Exam rules:
  1. The exam will be an open-book take-home exam. You can use any books that you like, but you may not consult with other people.

Course materials

Homework assigned so far: PostScript version PDF version
Rules for manipulating Weyl indices: PostScript version PDF version
Information about Mathematica: Basic Instructions The Mathematica Guide online

Course Evaluation

During the evaluation period you can supply your evaluation of the course at the course evaluation website.

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