Gauge Field Theories (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) [Paperback]

Stefan Pokorski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0521478162 | ISBN-13: 978-0521478168 | Edition: 2

Quantum field theory forms the present theoretical framework for our understanding of the fundamental interactions of particle physics. This updated and expanded volume examines gauge theories and their symmetries with an emphasis on their physical and technical aspects. A new introductory chapter gives a systematic overview to classical field theories and a short discussion of their canonical quantization and the discrete symmetries C, P and T. Coverage provides a brief exposition of perturbation theory, the renormalization program, and the use of the renormalization group equation. It then explores topics of current research interest including chiral symmetry and its breaking, anomalies, and low energy effective Lagrangians and some basics of supersymmetry. A chapter on the basics of the electroweak theory is also new to this edition, as well as an appendix that contains a complete set of Feynman rules for the Standard Model. This volume will be ideal for graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics, condensed matter physics, and applied mathematics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is thoughtfully planned and very well written. The exposition of difficult points is very clear...For students who have already had an introductory course in field theory, and for research workers in the field, I know of no better and more complete guide." L.H. Ryder, Times Higher Education Supplement

Book Description

Quantum field theory forms the present theoretical framework for our understanding of the fundamental interactions of particle physics. This up-dated and expanded text examines gauge theories and their symmetries with an emphasis on their physical and technical aspects. The book contains a new introductory chapter on classical field theories and an additional chapter introducing the electroweak theory, an essential topic in any modern book on quantum field theory. This is a self-contained text for graduate courses in physics, the only prerequisite being some grounding in quantum field theory.

Product Details

• Paperback: 632 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (March 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521478162
• ISBN-13: 978-0521478168
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,206,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From Fair to Good, May 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gauge Field Theories (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) (Paperback)

Pokorski starts the book with a very pedagogical spirit, giving an overview of classical field theory needed for the sequel and providing detail in his presentation. His treatment of functional integrals is one of the best I've seem in a field theory textbook and he does a better job of deriving the Feynman rules for QCD than I have seen elsewhere. But somewhere around half-way to two-thirds into the book it seems as though the author starts to get a little lazy, applying a more descriptive approach to the material rather than careful derivations. More is left to the reader to work through and his discussions tend to give one a sense of knowing about the material more than the actual material itself.

Its not that self contained. For instance scattering problems are presented without the development of a scattering formula and are very sketchy. Knowledge of group theory and spinors is required although they are discussed briefly in an appendix.

For a book of this level it would have been nice to see some topics included that were not covered: a deeper treatment of renormalization, proof of Coleman's theorem, proof of BRS invariance, derivations for asymptotic freedom of QCD.

Topics I thought were handled well are: the proofs of Goldstone's theorem and the treatment of spontaneous symmetry breaking in general, development of the non-abelian gauge theory, renormalization group and the general Ward identities.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars swell, March 5, 2002

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

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This review is from: Gauge Field Theories (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) (Paperback)

I learned from cheng and li, which isnt bad itself, but i found myself frequenting this book because of it's structure. If i ever taught field theory i think this would be an ideal second semester book, first semester something more mundane like mandl or ryder. It's got a strong QCD flavor (no pun intended) to the second half. There isnt any old-style operator approached presentation in the book, but basically ti makes sense to stress the path integral viewpoint because it makes gauge theories easier to deal with as well as more advanced topics. I find there are a lot of details here that arent found elsewhere.

anyway i liked it.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A quantum field theory book, May 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Gauge Field Theories (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) (Paperback)

This book covers the following subjects: 1. A brief introduction to QFT formalism 2. Feynman rules for YM thy 3. RG 4.QED 5. OPE 6. QCD 7.Spontaneous and explicit symmetry breaking 8. Higgs mechanism 9. SM of EW interactions 10. Chiral anomalies 11. Eff. Lagrangians and 11. a brief introduction to susy. The derivations are in general very detailed. At the end of every chapter, there are exercices (without solutions). The appendices are very useful, specially appendix C, which collects the SM feynman rules in a concise manner.