Statistical Field Theory: Volume 1, From Brownian Motion to Renormalization and Lattice Gauge Theory (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) (Hardcover)

by Claude Itzykson (Author), Jean-Michel Drouffe (Author) "It may seem surprising to start our study with a description of Brownian motion..." (more)
Key Phrases: ddk eik, renormalized functions, strong coupling series, New York, Springer Verlag, Academic Press (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"I strongly recommend these two volumes to anyone from intermediate graduate students to active experienced researchers to aging veterans who need to be reminded of or learn for the first time the broad conceptual framework underlying the many current applications of field theoretic methods." Paul Ginsparg, Foundations of Physics

"...an excellent pedagogically oriented introduction to the essential fundamentals of this rapidly expanding field. The level of treatment and clarity make it suitable for use as a primary reference in a graduate course." D. J. Geldart, Physics in Canada

Product Description
A comprehensive and timely survey of the application of the methods of quantum field theory to statistical physics, a very active and fruitful area of modern research, is provided in two volumes. The first volume provides a pedagogical introduction to the subject, discussing Brownian motion, its anticommutative counterpart in the guise of Onsager's solution to the two-dimensional Ising model, the mean field or Landau approximation, scaling ideas exemplified by the Kosterlitz-Thouless theory for the XY transition, the continuous renormalization group applied to the standard phi-to-the-fourth theory (the simplest typical case) and lattice gauge theory as a pathway to the understanding of quark confinement in quantum chromodynamics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 29, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521340586
• ISBN-13: 978-0521340588
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,108,182 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst text-book on theoretical physics I ever read , February 10, 2005

By	Yaroslav Rodionav - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Statistical Field Theory: Volume 1, From Brownian Motion to Renormalization and Lattice Gauge Theory (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) (Paperback)

This book is simply awful.
I couldn't understand a lot of derivations.
Before buying this book I studied the standard course on QFT by Peskin and Schroeder.(I solved 95% of its problems, so I'm not stupid!).
The reason I bought the book by Itzykson and Drouffe was to study some interesting advanced topics in QFT.
I began with Ising model and immediately got stuck.
I read previous reviews on this book. The authors praised it.
I wonder if any of them could proceed from formula 65 to 66?
(first volume)
Did any of them understand the derivation of Szego lemma?
What about Kac determinant?
I found that even original article by Itzykson was written better
and with more care than this book.(!)
Still it's worth buying as the source of references.
That's why one *.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars first vol only, March 5, 2002

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

This review is from: Statistical Field Theory: Volume 1, From Brownian Motion to Renormalization and Lattice Gauge Theory (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) (Paperback)

i think the first chapter is a b---- to get through, but after i did that i found the entire book either particularly useful or insightful. volume two never motivated it's own purchase.
I read it in frech, so i cant talk about how well things are explained in english, just in case anything was lost in translation, but with something like chapter two on grassman variables i dont think it's such a big deal. to put it succintly chapter 2 makes berezin's book obsolete to me and i feel that way about the whole book.