Quantum Field Theory A Diagrammatic Approach

Quantum field theory (QFT), the language of particle physics, is crucial to a physicist's graduate education. Based on lecture notes for courses taught for many years at Radboud University in the Netherlands, this book presents an alternative approach to teaching QFT using Feynman diagrams. A diagrammatic approach to understanding QFT exposes young physicists to an orthogonal introduction to the theory, bringing new ways to understand challenges in the field. Diagrammatic techniques using Feynman diagrams are used didactically, starting from simple discussions in lower dimensions to more complex topics in the Standard Model. Worked examples and exercises, for which solutions are available online, help the reader develop a deep understanding and intuition that enhances their problem-solving skills and understanding of QFT. Classroom-tested, this accessible book is valuable resource for graduate students and researchers.

Preface. 1. QFT in zero dimensions; 2. Loop expansion and the effective action; 3. On renormalization; 4. More fields in zero dimensions; 5. QFT in Euclidean spaces; 6. QFT in Minkowski space; 7. Scattering processes; 8. Introduction to loop calculations; 9. More on renormalization; 10. Dirac particles; 11. Helicity techniques for Dirac particles; 12. Vector particles; 13. Quantum electrodynamics; 14. Higher-order effects in QED; 15. Quantum chromodynamics; 16. Higher-order effects in QCD; 17. Electroweak theory; 18. More example computations; Appendices.

Ronald Kleiss has been a CERN staff member and is a full professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. Working in particle physics for more than forty years, he was one of the first theorists to develop Monte Carlo event generators for high-energy experiments.