PHY6648: Quantum Field Theory I
This course is the first semester of a two semester course on
modern quantum field theory. Although the course is mandatory for
students interested in high energy particle physics, it should
also be valuable to students of other specialties including
condensed matter physics and atomic and molecular physics.
For example, in the
first semester we shall develop, in our treatment of the
Dirac equation, the technique
of second quantization so useful in many body theory. Furthermore,
the emphasis of the whole course is on Quantum Electrodynamics, which
is essential to an understanding of all areas of physics.
Quantum Field Theory I is the natural continuation of the
graduate quantum mechanics courses PHY6645-46.
Below are links to course information, a syllabus, a convention
and formula sheet, and my lecture notes.
My email address is:
thorn@phys.ufl.edu
Announcements
My lecture notes have been updated (9/26/07), adding material recently
covered in lecture, including perturbation theory in scalar field theory,
reduction formulas, and cross section and rate formulas.
The due date for Set 5 is extended to 19 October 2007.
The due date for Set 6 is extended to Halloween.
For those of you following text discussions along with my lecture notes,
we will have covered the material in the following chapters of Srednicki
by the end of this week, 9 November 2007:
Part I, Chapters 1-12; Part II, Chapters 33-49. We will start
Quantum electrodynamics (QED) next week. This will correspond to
Part III, Chapters 54-68 in the text, though we may not get that
far before the end of the semester.
Homework Assignments
In the homework assignments, I will refer to problems in
Srednicki's book by prefixing the problem number with S.
Note that there are many problems in his book which ask the reader
to fill in gaps in the preceding discussion (e.g. S 2.1 through 2.7).
I will generally not assign such problems to be graded, but
you should nonetheless make sure you understand how to do them.
Problem Set 1, due 5 September 2007,
Solution Set 1
Problem Set 2, due 14 September 2007,
Solution Set 2
Problem Set 3, due 28 September 2007,
Solution Set 3
Problem Set 4, due 8 October 2007,
Solution Set 4
Problem Set 5, due 19 October 2007,
Solution Set 5
Problem Set 6, due 31 October 2007,
Solution Set 6
Problem Set 7, due 14 November 2007,
Solution Set 7
Problem Set 8, due 26 November 2007,
Solution Set 8
Problem Set 9, due 5 December 2007,
Solution Set 9
Information on Final Exam
In grading the final, points will be deducted for errors in
calculation and logic. This is in sharp contrast to the
grading of the homework which was based more on the
amount of work done than its accuracy.
Absolutely no collaboration will be allowed. Each student's exam
must be entirely his own work.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
- T. S. Eliot