Phys 624 - Quantum Field Theory
University of Maryland, College Park
Fall 2017, Professor: Ted Jacobson
Supplements
The Big Picture:
What
is Quantum Field Theory and What Did We Think it Is?
Steven Weinberg, 1997
Symmetry
and Emergence
Edward Witten,
2017
Theory Vision,
LHCP 2016, Frank Wilczek
Unification
of Force and Substance, 2015, Frank Wilczek
RG flow of
coupling constants in SM and MSSM
"Explanations" of asymptotic
freedom of non-Abelian Yang-Mills theories & QCD:
Asymptotic
freedom as a spin effect
N. K. Nielsen, Am. J. Phys. 49, 1171 (1981)
Some
Comments On Asymptotic Freedom
Richard J. Hughes, Phys.Lett. 97B (1980)
246-248
More
Comments On Asymptotic Freedom
Richard J. Hughes, Nucl.Phys. B186 (1981) 376-396
Aspects of Quantum
Field Theory
The
Conceptual Framework of Quantum Field Theory,
by Anthony Duncan: (Click on the book image to open
the book. You can read it online.) I recommend this in general, and
in particular, if you are interested in the history of the subject,
for Chapter 2: Gestation and birth of
interacting field theory: from Dirac to Shelter Island.
Here's an article that might be of interest for those inclined to
the most general and mathematically precise formulations. It is
based on an axiomatic approach to quantum field theory, which has
in particular the advantage of showing how general certain results
are, and sidesteps complications related to divergences and
renormalization in interacting theories:
Localization
and Entanglement in Relativistic Quantum Physics
Jakob Yngvason
Abstract: The combination of quantum theory and special relativity
leads to structures that differ in several respects from
non-relativistic quantum mechanics of particles. These differences
are quite familiar to practitioners of Algebraic Quantum Field
Theory but less well known outside this community. The paper is
intended as a concise survey of some selected aspects of
relativistic quantum physics, in particular regarding localization
and entanglement.
The
Quantum Theory of the Electron, P.A.M.
Dirac, 1928 (open the pdf from Proc. Roy. Soc.
A website)
Toward
an understanding of the spin-statistics theorem, Ian
Duck and E. C. G. Sudarshan, Am. J. Phys. 66, 284 (1998)
Conservation of isotopic spin and
isotopic gauge invariance, C. N. Yang and R.L.
Mills, Phys. Rev. 96, 191 (1954)
What
happens when an accelerating observer detects a Rindler
particle
William G. Unruh and Robert M. Wald, 1984
Anomalous Magnetic Moment of
the Electron
On
Quantum-Electrodynamics and the Magnetic Moment of the Electron
- Phys. Rev. 73, 416 (1947) Julian Schwinger,
Dec, 30, 1947
The Lamb Shift
Fine
Structure of the Hydrogen Atom by a Microwave Method, Willis E.
Lamb, Jr. and Robert C. Retherford, Phys. Rev. 72, 241 –
Published 1 August 1947
Relativistic Anyons?
An interesting question was raised Tues. Sept. 13, 2016 concerning
anyons: when I mentioned that although causality seems to require
commutators to vanish at spacelike separation, for fermions actually
the anti-commutators vanish, but it all turns out to be ok. I should
have said why: because the Hamiltonian must be constructed from
operators with an even number of fermion fields in order to be
hermitian, and to be a scalar. A student asked what about anyons? I
found a couple of references proving that there can be no
relativistic free theory of anyons. I haven't studied these yet, but
thought I would pass them along:
https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9712119
No-Go Theorem for ``Free'' Relativistic Anyons in d=2+1
Jens Mund
https://arxiv.org/abs/1112.5785
Braid group statistics implies scattering in three-dimensional
local quantum physics
Jacques Bros, Jens Mund
This paper on charged field seems to get around the obstruction in
some sense. Unfortunately it doesn't talk about observables and
causality, but there is something rather nonlocal about the whole
construction:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.6141
Wedge Local Deformations of Charged Fields leading to Anyonic
Commutation Relations