Quantum Field Theory of Point Particles and Strings (Frontiers in Physics) [Paperback]

Brian Hatfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0201360799 | ISBN-13: 978-0201360790 | Edition: First Printing, March 1998

The purpose of this book is to introduce string theory without assuming any background in quantum field theory. Part I of this book follows the development of quantum field theory for point particles, while Part II introduces strings. All of the tools and concepts that are needed to quantize strings are developed first for point particles. Thus, Part I presents the main framework of quantum field theory and provides for a coherent development of the generalization and application of quantum field theory for point particles to strings.Part II emphasizes the quantization of the bosonic string. The treatment is most detailed in the path integral representation where the object of interest, the partition function, is a sum over random surfaces. The relevant mathematics of Riemann surfaces is covered. Superstrings are briefly introduced, and the sum over genus 0 supersurfaces is computed.The emphasis of the book is calculational, and most computations are presented in step-by-step detail. The book is unique in that it develops all three representations of quantum field theory (operator, functional Schrödinger, and path integral) for point particles and strings. In many cases, identical results are worked out in each representation to emphasize the representation-independent structures of quantum field theory.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Hatfield is co-founder and senior research physicist at AMP Research in Lexington, Massachusetts. He has help positions at the University of California, the University of Texas, and Harvard University. He received a Ph.D. in physics from Caltech.

Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press; First Printing, March 1998 edition (April 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201360799
• ISBN-13: 978-0201360790
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,855,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best for understanding QFT, March 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Quantum Field Theory of Point Particles and Strings (Frontiers in Physics) (Paperback)

This book is readable (you don't have to sit down with paper and pencil and work out a page of calculations to get from one line to the next, for most of the text)and it is clear (concepts are defined and explained). It is not really suitable as a first exposure to QFT for the reader would be better off with some familiarity with Feynman diagrams and relativistic quantum mechanics beforehand. With this background Hatfield's book is very valuable as a source for understanding the meaning behind QFT. Many other field theory texts seem to be concerned with little beyond the motions of handling the mechanical formalism and obtaining quantitative results to problems. This book instead gives the reader insight into field theory, does a good job at giving the big picture and stressing the transition from ordinary QM to the field aspect. Besides this, Hatfield's informal prose makes the book enjoyable to read. It has a fair share of typos throughout but most are quite easy to find. Compared to some of the popular field theory texts out there (P&S, Ryder) this one stands head and shoulders above.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference book for students, March 7, 2001

By 

K. M. Maung (Va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantum Field Theory of Point Particles and Strings (Frontiers in Physics) (Paperback)

This is not a typical field theory book. From the very beginning the aim is to teach the reader all the concepts and methods which will be useful to learn string theory which form the last third of the book. Excellent examples of this can be found in the chapters on path integral and also in the chapter on Fadeev-Popov method. Almost all calculations are shown in step by step detail and it is very useful for the students who are learning field theory for the first time. The organization of the book is a little different from the usual mold of field theory books, but one can get use to it. One just has to realize that while most of the field theory books on the market (except for Weinberg's 3 volume text and one or two other) aim at teaching how to derive Feynman rules and how to calculate a few processes , this book by Hatfield is trying to take the "field theory book" audiance (who are usually phenomenology oriented) to a different playground "introduction to strings". This is an excellent book and a definite break from the old "B&D book 1 and 2" tradition and I would recommend it to both students and teachers (most of whom are still stuck in the old mode) alike. K. M. Maung Department of Physics Hampton University Hampton, Virginia 23668

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Much inferior to Ryder for intro QFT, June 8, 2002

By 

Rod Ball (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantum Field Theory of Point Particles and Strings (Frontiers in Physics) (Hardcover)

I endorse most of what the reviewer below says except that Jasonc65 from Wilmington has forgotten that the derivative with respect to complex z=x+iy is d/dz=1/2(d/dx - i.d/dy) so that he should have got pi=half[i.phi(star)] by both methods - which is the right answer! Hatfield has simply got it wrong. Similarly,pi(star)=minus half(i.phi). For the correct treatment see Franz Gross "Relativistic Q.M. and Field Theory" chapter 7. And it's not the only error; simply "plugging (2.52) into an equation like (2.47)" clearly does not give (2.50) and (2.51) but gives an imaginary probability density and no i-factor in the spatial components.
Hatfield's treatment is not the step by step approach claimed but rather piecemeal and with a cavalier attitude to index house-keeping minus signs and factors of i and 1/2 etc. He is further let down by the typesetting of Perseus books that makes hardly any use of boldface characters, uses a point size for indices and suffixes not much smaller than the normal font and an almost typewriter-like character spacing in equations and formulae that make them sprawl across the page in a way less easy to scan than most other publisher's neatly grouped expressions.
For a step by step introduction that is clear, reasonably rigorous and more readable than Hatfield, I would strongly recommend Lewis Ryder's QFT book notwithstanding that it is mainly oriented towards the path integral formulation.