TP101: Quantum Field Theory I

by Zihan Yan

Week 3-8, Fridays and Wednesdays 2000-2200 (GMT+8), 24h in total

This course serves as the very first stepping stone towards graduate level theoretical physics. As we saw in Quantum Mechanics, the precise predictions of many microscopic phenomena proved a great success of the theory, yet we treated microscopic particles in a non-relativistic, number-conserved manner, which is hard to describe relativistic particles (such as photons) and the creation and annihilation of particles. In this course, we will witness the marriage of Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity, and we shall see how this leads to a new mathematical framework that enables us to talk about elementary particle interactions accurately.

This course will be based on the Quantum Field Theory course offered in DAMTP, University of Cambridge, and the course materials are far from original.

The whole lecture series will be roughly 24 hours, in terms of 12 two-hour lectures. The exact timing can be flexible regarding the actual circumstances.

For more information, here is the Guide to Course.