Physics 722: Quantum Field Theory
Spring 2008

Instructor - Josh Erlich
Small Hall, Room 223
Office Phone: 757-221-3763
Email: erlich@physics.wm.edu

Topics to be covered, as time permits:

Radiative Corrections in QED

• Electron self energy
• Electron vertex function and g-2
• Bremsstrahlung and infrared divergences
• Lamb shift




Renormalization

• Effective field theory
• The renormalization group
• Application to critical phenomena




Symmetries

• Discrete symmetries
• Lie groups and Lie algebras
• Isospin, chiral symmetry and hadron phenomenology
• Spontaneous symmetry breaking, Goldstone's theorem
• Anomalous global symmetries




Gauge Theories


• Functional integral quantization
• Ward-Takahashi Indentities
• Non-Abelian gauge theory (Yang-Mills theory)
• Gauge fixing and Fadeev-Popov ghosts
• Anomalies vs. Renormalizability
• Quantum Chromodynamics: Asymptotic freedom and confinement
• Electroweak symmetry breaking: the Higgs mechanism
• Standard Model of Particle Physics

Course requirements and grade:

• Problem sets (60%)
• Take home final exam (40%)

Problem Sets

Problem sets will generally be due Thursdays.

Problem Set 1 (ps1.ps, ps1.pdf), due Thursday, January 31.
Problem Set 2 (ps2.ps, ps2.pdf), due Tuesday, February 12.
Problem Set 3 (ps3.ps, ps3.pdf), due Thursday, February 21.
Problem Set 4 (ps4.ps, ps4.pdf), due Thursday, March 13.
Problem Set 5 (ps5.ps, ps5.pdf), due Thursday, March 20.
Problem Set 6 (ps6.ps, ps6.pdf), due Thursday, April 3.
Problem Set 7 (ps7.ps, ps7.pdf), due Thursday, April 10.
Problem Set 8 (ps8.ps, ps8.pdf), due Thursday, April 24.

Final Exam

The final exam is due in my mailbox by 5pm Wednesday, April 30.
final.ps, final.pdf
Note that minor clarifications appear in the statement of the problems in the online version of the exam, last modified April 28, 12pm. Answers to your questions are summarized below:
1) In part 1c, there are two classes of scalar loop diagrams that contribute to the photon self energy. These are in addition to the fermion loops and counterterms.
2) In problem 2a, the limit should read T -> infinity(1-i epsilon).
3) In the hint for part 2b, you should average over generalized LORENZ gauges.