This book is a modern 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 author develops the quantum theory of scalar and spinor fields, and then of gauge fields. 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. Graduate students in particle physics and high energy physics will benefit from this book.
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"It is very strongly recommended to anyone seeking an elementary introduction to modern approaches to quantum field theory." Physics Bulletin
Book Description
After a brief overview of particle physics and a survey of relativistic wave equations and Lagrangian methods, this text develops the quantum theory of scalar and spinor fields, and then of gauge fields. The emphasis throughout is on functional methods, which have played a large part in modern field theory.
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45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
By Derek Lee
Format:Paperback
One of the basic questions in the education of theoretical physics is, what is a good way of introducing QFT and giving the student a taste of what is to come? In my opinion, this book offers a fine solution to this thorny problem.
There are many sides to this question; for example, there is the view that the students should be exposed to this vast topic in a complete and thorough way (for such a text, I HIGHLY recommend Weinberg's 3 volume set, which, if not commonly regarded as a classic yet, soon will be), and also there is the point of view that most of the students studying QFT are experimentalists, so they should first be exposed to how to calculate amplitudes and cross sections for useful processes as soon as possible (see Peskin-Schroder for an outstanding exemplification of this principle). Both of these points of view have strong arguments supporting them, and there are many other reasonable opinions that might be taken; perhaps this is an indication that there is not any one approach to this subject which is a good introduction for all, but rather that the student must choose intelligently which text he/she finds they are most comfortable with. However, I can say that for me at least, this book had just the right selection of topics and at just the right level to get me interested in the subject and to give me a taste as to what it would be like if I were to go into it in more depth (which indeed I did). Other reviewers are quite right in pointing out that there are several inaccuracies in this text; also in more than a few places the treatment is considerably less clear than it might have been (this is one of the main strengths of Weinberg's set; every last detail is crystal clear, and the physical reasoning in the derivations is very rarely muddled in the math).... Read more ›
There are many sides to this question; for example, there is the view that the students should be exposed to this vast topic in a complete and thorough way (for such a text, I HIGHLY recommend Weinberg's 3 volume set, which, if not commonly regarded as a classic yet, soon will be), and also there is the point of view that most of the students studying QFT are experimentalists, so they should first be exposed to how to calculate amplitudes and cross sections for useful processes as soon as possible (see Peskin-Schroder for an outstanding exemplification of this principle). Both of these points of view have strong arguments supporting them, and there are many other reasonable opinions that might be taken; perhaps this is an indication that there is not any one approach to this subject which is a good introduction for all, but rather that the student must choose intelligently which text he/she finds they are most comfortable with. However, I can say that for me at least, this book had just the right selection of topics and at just the right level to get me interested in the subject and to give me a taste as to what it would be like if I were to go into it in more depth (which indeed I did). Other reviewers are quite right in pointing out that there are several inaccuracies in this text; also in more than a few places the treatment is considerably less clear than it might have been (this is one of the main strengths of Weinberg's set; every last detail is crystal clear, and the physical reasoning in the derivations is very rarely muddled in the math).... Read more ›
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By R. Ball
Format:Paperback
Of all the QFT textbooks I have surveyed, this is by far the most accessable and readable. It has an ideal balance between clear well-written text and carefully paced equations, without the usual "after some manipulation..." or "combining with the previous results and rearranging..." or the fearful "it can be seen that..." which usually conceal chasms in reasoning that require an hour or so's hackwork to establish. It is nicely self-contained, having short digressions to derive some mathematical or topological results without sending the reader to consult other sources for clarification. I still have the first edition for which my only minor quibble would be the rather frequent typo's in the formulae, but at least picking them out kept me alert. These may have been cleaned up in the later edition.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very readable intro to QFT. After having tried a dozen or so different QFT books, this is the one that I eventually used. A nice feature is its emphasis on the path integral and its use in QFT. This book does not have any problems included. In order to gain some experience actually solving problems the book should be supplemented with another. I would recommend that Schwabl's "Advanced Quantum Mechanics" and Griffiths' "Introduction to Elementary Particles" be used in conjunction with Ryder. They complement the text perfectly. Also, you can't expect to learn QFT from only one source.
23 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By Assaf Tal
Format:Paperback
This book reminds me of Sakurai's book Modern Quantum Mechanics, in that Sakurai manages to explain many topics in a very compact form, but is not always suitable
for beginners who need to actually see calculations and have every step justified
for them; i.e., it is a bit TOO intuitive (yes, you can be too intuitive). Intuition is great, but intuition should come from first doing calculations and proving things thoroughly, which is something this book just doesn't do.
Also, the outstanding pedagogy mentioned by some other reviewers here isn't so outstanding. Allow me to give an example - on page 63 Ryder defines the little group as the subgroup of the Poincare group which leaves a certain vector invariant. Then a few lines later he writes down a certain vector and adds: "what is its little group? It is clearly the rotation group, since this will have no effect on [the vector]" - hardly an explanation; this look more like a tautology to me. I'm not nitpicking - this is the sort of reasoning provided in many places in the book. In my opinion, it might be good for readers who are looking for an intuitive angle on things, but for people learning QFT for the first time a book such as Bjorken and Drell will do a better job, even if not as exciting.
for beginners who need to actually see calculations and have every step justified
for them; i.e., it is a bit TOO intuitive (yes, you can be too intuitive). Intuition is great, but intuition should come from first doing calculations and proving things thoroughly, which is something this book just doesn't do.
Also, the outstanding pedagogy mentioned by some other reviewers here isn't so outstanding. Allow me to give an example - on page 63 Ryder defines the little group as the subgroup of the Poincare group which leaves a certain vector invariant. Then a few lines later he writes down a certain vector and adds: "what is its little group? It is clearly the rotation group, since this will have no effect on [the vector]" - hardly an explanation; this look more like a tautology to me. I'm not nitpicking - this is the sort of reasoning provided in many places in the book. In my opinion, it might be good for readers who are looking for an intuitive angle on things, but for people learning QFT for the first time a book such as Bjorken and Drell will do a better job, even if not as exciting.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Normally I would have given this book a three-star rating if it weren't for the number of interesting topics that it presents that usually don't find themselves in a QFT book: topological aspects, supersymmetry, nice approach to Dirac's equation, derivation of reduction theorem from path integrals only.
The presentations are written with uneven quality. Ryder's treatment of supersymmetry is excellent as an introduction. The first chapter on the other hand is entirely forgetable. The mathematics is too loose and somewhat sloppy at parts. However almost every field theory text I've come across suffers from this criticism. (It would be nice to see a QFT book written for physicists but by a mathematician.) Explanations and insight into QFT are scant; the book focuses mostly on formalism. The best thing about Ryder is it covers a great amount of material in a short size (487 pages) and in a very readable form.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
an exceptional first book on QFT
This review is for the first edition. As I understand the only difference to the 2nd edition is the 1st editions lack of the chapter on supersymmetry. Read more
Published 11 months ago by physics joe
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dr.Benjamin Hobhouse
This is a book which simplifies QFT in a way not suitable for learning the real principles and theoretical foundations of QFT. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Sophie
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best first book on quantum field theory
As many reviewers correctly observe, quantum field theory can hardly be learned from one book. This is, of course, true of many topics in science and engineering! Read more
Published on October 18, 2010 by Ulfilas
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very readable introduction to Quantum Field Theory
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... Read more
Published on March 3, 2010 by Dr. Bojan Tunguz
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good physical intuition into the topic
To understand quantum field theory it is necessary to read more than one author. Ryder's book should definitely be included in the list of titles.
Published on October 3, 2007 by Marcelo Vogel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Overview of QFT for those wanting a refreshing
This book should not be used for beginners by which I mean those individuals with a background in QM and SR but not QFT. Read more
Published on December 5, 2006 by Rehan Dost
5.0 out of 5 stars
ryder
its a good book for the beginners.The only drawback is it does not have exercise problems.
Published on February 27, 2006 by Sayak Mukherjee
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of good books
1)as other reviewers put, we cannot expect every thing from one source. but without doubt, this is a good buy. Read more
Published on March 8, 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent pedagogical suplement
You wouldn't want to rely on this as your only source for QFT, but it provides a really nice, easy to read, supplemental point of view to other more computation-oriented texts. Read more
Published on August 6, 2001
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Introduction book
This is a perfect introduction book to field theory. Very Clear, physics and mathematics. Also provide some different approach like how to understand Dirac equation. Read more
Published on June 26, 2001 by K. Wang
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 78
books:
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79
books
cite this book:
See all 79 books citing this book
- Theoretical Physics (Dover Books on Physics) by Georg Joos in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Relativistic Quantum Theory (Course of Theoretical Physics Volume 4, Part 2) by E. M. Lifshitz in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Introduction to Supersymmetry (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) by Peter G. O. Freund in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Particle Physics (Nato a S I Series Series B, Physics) by Maurice Lévy in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Understanding the Fundamental Constituents of Matter (Subnuclear Series) by Antonio Zichichi in Back Matter
See all 78 books this book cites
- The Photomagneton and Quantum Field Theory: Of Quantum Chemistry (World Scientific Series in Contemporary Chemical Physics) by A. A. Hasanein on 15 pages
- Condensed Matter Field Theory by Alexander Altland on 9 pages
- Classical Electrodynamics and the B (3) Field by M. W. Evans on 5 pages
- Introduction to Quantum Field Theory by V.lG. Kiselev on 4 pages
- Beyond the Desert 2002: Accelerator, Non-Accelerator and Space Approaches in the New Millennium by H. V. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus on page 121, and page 159
See all 79 books citing this book
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