Quantum Theory of Many-Particle Systems (Paperback)

by Alexander L. Fetter (Author), John Dirk Walecka (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The most comprehensive textbook yet published in its field and every postgraduate student or teacher in this field should own or have access to a copy."

Product Description
"Singlemindedly devoted to its job of educating potential many-particle theorists ... deserves to become the standard text in the field."--Physics Today. "The most comprehensive textbook yet published in its field and every postgraduate student or teacher in this field should own or have access to a copy."--Endeavor. A self-contained treatment of nonrelativistic many-particle systems, this text discusses both formalism and applications. Chapters on second quantization and statistical mechanics introduce ground-state (zero-temperature) formalism, which is explored by way of Green's functions and field theory (fermions), Fermi systems, linear response and collective modes, and Bose systems. Finite-temperature formalism is examined through field theory at finite temperature, physical systems at finite temperature, and real-time Green's functions and linear response. Additional topics cover canonical transformations and applications to physical systems in terms of nuclear matter, phonons and electrons, superconductivity, and superfluid helium as well as applications to finite systems. 1971 ed. 149 figures. 8 tables.

Product Details

• Paperback: 617 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486428273
• ISBN-13: 978-0486428277
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,898 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Green's functions vs. Many-body physics, January 14, 2005

By	V. Puller "Researcher" (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is the best text on Green's functions, especially if you are a kind of person who really reads through books trying to figure the things out. Probably the only book which succeeds in promoting analytic continuation for newcomers (although I also recomment appendix in the book by Kadanoff&Baym): it seems like many people get impression of this being a topic of secondary importance, whereas it is the conerstone of the imaginary time techniques.
I also recommend Abrikosov et al. as a classic and a good sample of how the things are done in majority of the papers (and the Dover edition is really cheap).
Sorry for Mahan, as it makes a good reference book, but not a book you can learn from.
I found that more practical people give preference to the book by Jauho and Haug- it is not a bad one, has Keldysh technique, and containes useful references to important review papers.
Finally, I recommend the book by Negele and Orland as a more modern look at "many-body physics" as it is versus "Green's functions books".

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars solid text, December 12, 2004

By	chicken head cut off "mcscientist" (Gainesville/Orsay France) - See all my reviews

I find F&W's writing lucid and their math clear. it's more fleshed out than a text like mahan. the only drawback is that it's old fashioned. hbar isnt 1 like many authors.

so I would get this over abrikosov et al, and you'd need another text if you wanted to learn about path integral techniques, but pound for pound (and considering that dover reprints are cheap) it holds its own.

it's good for bosons (BEC stuff these days), and superconductors, weak on interacting fermions bc it focused on the nuclear problem instead of metals.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still a Standard Text, January 2, 2004

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Quantum Theory of Many-Particle Systems (Pure & Applied Physics) (Hardcover)

Very well written and with a comprehensive explanation of the basics of advanced quantum theory. This is the place for understanding about computing propagators and Feynman diagrams to arbitrary order.

Plus, the Dyson equation! At last, you can find out what made Freeman Dyson famous amongst physicists. You can decide whether this ranks in importance to Feynman's and Schwinger's discoveries.

The problem sets are nontrivial. Which will be appreciated by you, AFTER you have attempted them. (Whilst you are in an allnighter, trying to finish a problem set, your opinion may differ!)

The book does not cover superstrings, because those came after its publication.