Quantum Field Theory: An Integrated Approach

The only graduate-level textbook on quantum field theory that fully integrates perspectives from high-energy, condensed-matter, and statistical physics

Quantum field theory was originally developed to describe quantum electrodynamics and other fundamental problems in high-energy physics, but today has become an invaluable conceptual and mathematical framework for addressing problems across physics, including in condensed-matter and statistical physics. With this expansion of applications has come a new and deeper understanding of quantum field theory--yet this perspective is still rarely reflected in teaching and textbooks on the subject. Developed from a year-long graduate course Eduardo Fradkin has taught for years to high-energy, condensed-matter, and statistical physics students, this comprehensive textbook provides a fully multicultural approach to quantum field theory, covering the full breadth of its applications in one volume.

• Brings together perspectives from high-energy, condensed-matter, and statistical physics in both the main text and exercises
• Takes students from basic techniques to the frontiers of physics
• Pays special attention to the relation between measurements and propagators and the computation of cross sections and response functions
• Focuses on symmetries and symmetry breaking, renormalization and the renormalization group with an emphasis on the concepts of fixed points, and scale invariance and their role in quantum field theory and phase transitions
• Other topics include non-perturbative phenomena, anomalies, and conformal invariance
• Features numerous examples and extensive problem sets
• Also serves as an invaluable resource for researchers