Customer Reviews

Quantum Field Theory

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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). Perhaps in this sense, the book could have been better written, and just by this element of style, I probably would have rated this 4 stars. However, I think that these valid criticisms are more than offset by the overwhelming strength of the book:that it is truly inspiring. Several reviewers have gone over details; I shall not rehash these matters, but instead leave off with the statement that this book was the best introduction to QFT that I could have bought.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Ryder's use of geometry and topology is also refreshing in shedding light on gauge theories and symmetry breaking. The chapters on Renormalization are less useful, however.

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. highly recommend the beginners to read.

This is an ideal one for a new comer in the science of Quantum Field Theory. It discusses the transition of Quantum Mechanics to Quantum Theory in great detail. The book teaches Path Integral Formalism and also throws light on Modern concepts Ghost Fields etc. The book also explores the concept of function and functional. Obvoiusly it does not go to discuss Functional in such a detail as that of the book on QFT by P Ramond. The book also throws light on Gauge Field Theory, Symmetry Breaking and Electroweak Interaction. Altogether the book is one of the best 'buy's for a Graduate Student in Physics. Personally I have been refering this book right since Graduate days till today for last tweleve years.

This book is not a cut and paste job, but a scholarly treatise. If Bjorken and Drell's clasic is a recipe book for calculations, this book will tell you were does the Dirac equation comes from, what is the physics behind the path integral approach, and what are the guiding principles behind almost any question you might ask in quantum field theory. The book will also inspire the reader to look beyond into the classic research papers and other books, such as those written by Weinberg, and other original thinkers. In the derivation of the Dirac equation (p. 44 of the first Ed., and p. 41 of the second Ed.) the reader is asked to correct phi_R(0)=phi_L(0) - the equality actually holds up to a phase factor; and the demand for parity covarinace reduces it to a plus minus sign. See my review available on LANL archives for more details (also, in Found. of Phys./Lett). In short, do not be discouraged by the introductory first chapter (as one of the ... review warns you). This book by Ryder is an effort of affectionate scholarship. It has flaws, here and there, but these flaws are far fewer than any other book I know at this level. Once you have read this book, by all means venture into the Weinberg triology. If one had only three texts on one's book shelf, I would recommend Ryder's QFT, Weinberg's Gravitation, and Dirac's Principles of Quantum Mechanics. That said, there is an element of uneveness - not every chapter carries the same smoothness - but there are several self-contained chapters which serve as wonderful essays on supersymmetry, toplogical objects in field theory, and the role of space-time symmetries in quantum field theory ...

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.