Quantum Field Theory

by Lewis H. Ryder

This book is a modern introduction to the ideas and techniques of quantum field theory. After a brief overview of particle physics and a survey of relativistic wave equations and Lagrangian methods, the author develops the quantum theory of scalar and spinor fields, and then of gauge fields. The emphasis throughout is on functional methods, which have played a large part in modern field theory. The book concludes with a brief survey of "topological" objects in field theory and, new to this edition, a chapter devoted to supersymmetry. Graduate students in particle physics and high energy physics will benefit from this book.

Genres: Physics, Science, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Quantum Mechanics

508 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Skymeson Rolnick]

One of my favorites for Quantum Field Theory.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot to like about Ryder's QFT. The introduction is very nice and gives a strong flavor of what is to come - something nice to return to when needing inspiration. The first five chapters provide a strong foundation for the remainder of the text, and I particularly like how topics such as differential geometry, the Poincare group and the Bohm-Ahraonov effect are discussed.

Chapters 6, 7 and 9 are the most technically demanding, finding a midpoint between the higher end texts like Srednicki and those that are more readable like Peskin. Sometimes points that deserve more detailed skimmed over, like important theorems in homotopy theory, but references are provided when needed.

I think chapter 8 contains one of the best introductions to spontaneous symmetry breaking I've read, which together with chapter 10 on topological defects makes this volume a pretty self-contained starting point for the topic.

Absolutely one for the shelf.

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This textbook is probably one of the most readable books on Quantum Field Theory. The level of formalism and mathematical complexity varies from chapter to chapter, which has its virtues and drawbacks. The chapters that are not too math-heavy are usually the more intelligible ones, and they present the otherwise fairly arcane material in a very accessible and physically-motivated fashion. On the other hand these chapters leave out a lot of calculation or just skim through those somewhat superficially. If you are trying to learn Quantum Field Theory so that you become proficient enough to pursue research in this field, then you may find this lack of detail frustrating.

One of the virtues of this book are the extended references that can be found at the ends of chapters. These refer both to the original research papers and other books that may cover the same material in more depth or with a different approach. These references are invaluable in their own right, and make this book a great resource to have.

The last chapter focuses on supersymmetry. This could be viewed as a somewhat controversial choice of topic to be included in a textbook that covers the fundamentals of quantum field theory. Supersymmetry, despite decades of theoretical investigation, so far has not yielded a single observable verification. There might be something in the claims of its proponents that it has a very appealing conceptual and mathematical structure, but even its simplest formulation that have any bearing on the real world are so complex that any traces of conceptual simplicity are irrevocably lost. However, whatever your feelings about supersymmetry might be, this chapter is valuable in its own right, since it gives a lot of interesting mathematics that are relevant to fermionic and bosonic fields in general.

One big problem that I have with this book as a textbook is a total lack of problems and exercises. As such is probably not well suited as a primary book for learning this material. Nonetheless, there are some detailed calculations of some important formal results, and these can be used in conjunction with other textbooks.

I would recommend this book to be used as a secondary study material for an introductory course on Quantum Field Theory. This way all of its strong points would be utilized, while its few weaknesses would not be an obstacle to fully absorbing otherwise very difficult material.

[Arifa]

This is a pretty good exposition into QFT on a beginner-to-intermediate level. It complements Blundell's QFT textbook and Schwichtenberg's QFT textbook really nicely, and I think this book is a natural follow-up from them. Reading this has helped me fill in a lot of the knowledge gaps from my undergraduate modules (in fact, I wished I had read the first few chapters back then).

I have stopped at Chapter 4 for now, but I will come back later if need be.
Will definitely recommend this book.

[Brian Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent text on quantum fields. I didn't use this as a primary text book, but found it very helpful as a supplementary source on certain topics. The writing is clear and focused, and most important results are derived in balanced detail. Notable sections include the chapter on Renormalization, and the treatment of generating functionals and path integrals in Chapters 6 and 7. The chapter on Single-Particle Relativistic Wave Equations, notably sections 2.3 and 2.7 on the Lie groups of interest to particle physics, and the derivation of the Dirac Equation from Lorentz boosts, is worthwhile.

[Adam Getchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moderately clear exposition. Mathematics fairly well covered, although you have to read some sections over several times to keep track of everything. Shorter than Peskin & Schroeder, and probably a good prerequisite to tackling that 800+ page tome.

[Jiahao · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit old-fashioned, but very readable and clearly presented, quite suitable for self-study.