QFT Overview for Soon-to-be Students

[newbee]

Hello Forum

Does anybody know of a good summary article or webpage that concisely and accurately outlines QFT (wikipedia's page is pretty bad)? I am not looking for a layman's guide but rather something suitable for a soon-to-be-student of QFT - something that can be read and understood in a day or two. I know it sounds like a tall order but I would not be at all surprised to find such a thing for regular QM.

 

[tiny-tim]

Does anybody know of a good summary article or webpage that concisely and accurately outlines QFT (wikipedia's page is pretty bad)? I am not looking for a layman's guide but rather something suitable for a soon-to-be-student of QFT - something that can be read and understood in a day or two. I know it sounds like a tall order but I would not be at all surprised to find such a thing for regular QM.

Hello newbee!

hmm … you're right … that wikipedia article just goes on and on about quantum theory without really saying what QFT is!

For a one-sentence summary: QFT is the technique of replacing annihilation and creation operators by annihilation and creation fields defined (much like Fourier transforms) over a whole space.

Since you have "a day or two", I think you should go for a book rather than a webpage.

I like Steven Weinberg's "Quantum Theory of Fields, Volume I" … (I assume you already know about basic quantum theory , so: ) go straight to Section 5.2 to find out what fields are, and then go back to Chapter 4.

 

[newbee]

Thanks Tiny Tim

It looks like there exists a niche for a short book, of say no more than 50 pages, explaining the fundamentals of QFT to grad students.

 

[George Jones]

Again, I recommend

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=1924807#post1924807.

It might not suit your taste, but you should at least take a look.

 

[Avodyne]

You might try Weinberg's article,
What is Quantum Field Theory, and What Did We Think It Is? (17 pages)
http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9702027
or Wilczek's article,
Quantum Field Theory (12 pages)
http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9803075

 

[newbee]

Excellent

Thanks all.

 

[newbee]

Hey guys. I just found what appears to very a very nice concise yet rigorous intro to QFT. It is chapter seven of "Quantum Mechanics and the Particles of Nature: An Outline for Mathematicians" by Anthony Sudbery. It's only 45 pages! If you can find a copy then please tell me what you think of the book and more importantly what you think about chapter 7.