Has Anyone Read Schwinger's Particles, Sources, and Fields?

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I started reading Schwinger's first volume of the monograph: "particles, sources and fields"

And I must say it's hard book to read, has anyone read it or wish to correspond here or on PMs about any thing that is being deduced in the book/s?

Or am I the only bloke who read this book, besides Schwinger's and his hypothetical reader "Harold"?

 

[vanhees71]

I haven't read the books, and Schwinger is known to be hard to read, but struggling with his texts always leads to some understanding, at least when judging from his textbooks on classical electrodynamics and quantum mechanics. So, I suggest to post questions to discuss into the quantum mechanics subforum, where also QFT is discussed.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I'll use it later on, I just enquiring as to if there's anyone who read his classic book? (In the start of the book, there's this statement:"if you can't join 'em, then beat 'em").

So I assume, that Schwinger was sort of a renegade in the physicisists' circles.

 

[bolbteppa]

I've read at the first 3 pages and already the book is phenomenal, never seen that global approach to the commutator or Jacobi identity before, I would have thought Arnold would have mentioned this perspective in his group theory book and in his Teaching essay instead of the whole triangles crossing aat a point thing...

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Can you cite explicitly the book by Arnold, as in what its title?

 

[bolbteppa]

I was referring to Arnold's essay
http://pauli.uni-muenster.de/~munsteg/arnold.html
and book on Abel's theorem
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402021860/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Can you articulate in words what Schwinger's version of the Jacobi identity is saying by any chance?

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I'll have to reread it, I'll let you know after I am finish rereading the entire book; It's a hard book no kidding!