Nonequilibrium Quantum Field Theory Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics Series

Bringing together the key ideas from nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and powerful methodology from quantum field theory, this book captures the essence of nonequilibrium quantum field theory. Beginning with the foundational aspects of the theory, the book presents important concepts and useful techniques, discusses issues of basic interest, and shows how thermal field, linear response, kinetic theories and hydrodynamics emerge. It also illustrates how these concepts and methodology are applied to current research topics including nonequilibrium phase transitions, thermalization in relativistic heavy ion collisions, the nonequilibrium dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensation, and the generation of structures from quantum fluctuations in the early Universe. Divided into five parts, with each part addressing a particular stage in the conceptual and technical development of the subject, this self-contained book is a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers in particle physics, gravitation, cosmology, atomic-optical and condensed matter physics.

Part I. Fundamentals of Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics: 1. Basic issues in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics; 2. Relaxation, dissipation, noise and fluctuations; 3. Quantum open systems; Part II. Basics of Nonequilibrium Quantum Field Theory: 4. Quantum fields on time-dependent backgrounds: particle creation; 5. Open systems of interacting quantum fields; 6. Functional methods in nonequilibrium QFT; Part III. Gauge Invariance, Dissipation, Entropy, Noise and Decoherence: 7. Closed time path effective action for gauge theories; 8. Dissipation and noise in mean field dynamics; 9. Entropy generation and decoherence of quantum fields; Part IV. Thermal, Kinetic and Hydrodynamic Regimes: 10. Thermal field and linear response theory; 11. Quantum kinetic field theory; 12. Hydrodynamics and thermalization; 13. Nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensates; 14. Nonequilibrium issues in RHICs and DCCs; 15. Nonequilibrium quantum processes in the early universe; References; Index.

Esteban Calzetta is a Professor in the Departamento de Fisica at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and Researcher at CONICET, Argentina.
Bei-Lok Hu is a Professor in the Department of Physics and a Fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, College Park.