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Frontiers in Physics
An Introduction To Quantum Field Theory
An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory is a textbook intended for the graduate physics course covering relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, and Feynman diagrams. The authors make these subjects accessible through carefully worked examples illustrating the technical aspects of the subject, and intuitive explanations of what is going on behind the mathematics. After presenting the basics of quantum electrodynamics, the authors discuss the theory of renormalization and its relation to statistical mechanics, and introduce the renormalization group. This discussion sets the stage for a discussion of the physical principles that underlie the fundamental interactions of elementary particle physics and their description by gauge field theories.
866 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 5, 2024
No doubt in recommending this book to any one seeking a first contact with QFT.
From classical to quantized field dynamics, Peskin and Schroeder skip no discussion in this “Introduction” and still their pace is totally adequate for a semestral course on the subject. The simple case of a complex scalar field is used as a starting point to establish a basic approach to interacting field theories. Latter on such approach is revisited by introducing the path integral formalism, thus delivering a second perspective on interacting QFTs. Introducing both abelian and non-abelian gauge groups the authors derive the rules of the fundamental interactions force by force and, with a lot of detailed case studies, they never fail to give a comprehensive review of the processes involving the most fundamental degrees of freedom predicted by the Standard Model. A whole chapter has been dedicated to spontaneous symmetry breaking, highlighting the important case of the Higgs mechanism and most of its phenomenology. In the end the reader is taken to the frontier of high energy physics by learning about the possible directions for completing the Standard Model as well as its intricacies. Being such a complete book I must finish the review by recommending it to researchers on the subject as well!
From classical to quantized field dynamics, Peskin and Schroeder skip no discussion in this “Introduction” and still their pace is totally adequate for a semestral course on the subject. The simple case of a complex scalar field is used as a starting point to establish a basic approach to interacting field theories. Latter on such approach is revisited by introducing the path integral formalism, thus delivering a second perspective on interacting QFTs. Introducing both abelian and non-abelian gauge groups the authors derive the rules of the fundamental interactions force by force and, with a lot of detailed case studies, they never fail to give a comprehensive review of the processes involving the most fundamental degrees of freedom predicted by the Standard Model. A whole chapter has been dedicated to spontaneous symmetry breaking, highlighting the important case of the Higgs mechanism and most of its phenomenology. In the end the reader is taken to the frontier of high energy physics by learning about the possible directions for completing the Standard Model as well as its intricacies. Being such a complete book I must finish the review by recommending it to researchers on the subject as well!
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February 3, 2023.
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Well, i don't think yet anything about this textbook, stil in use.
It was on a table next to me in the (vegan) restaurant nextdoor, (Gys ASW nl) today (15-18).
Still it's 1st edition and first published in 1995
OL
lccn 89027170
doi taylor francis (downloadable preview (41 p.)) get access
https://www.slac.stanford.edu/~mpeski...
url
-
.
-
Well, i don't think yet anything about this textbook, stil in use.
It was on a table next to me in the (vegan) restaurant nextdoor, (Gys ASW nl) today (15-18).
Still it's 1st edition and first published in 1995
OL
lccn 89027170
doi taylor francis (downloadable preview (41 p.)) get access
https://www.slac.stanford.edu/~mpeski...
url
-
.
June 10, 2020
This is the standard graduate-level intro to QFT text; at least it was in 2000s when I was in school. It's got the same clinical, serious, joyless air as other "canonical" graduate texts like Jackson; it's rigorous but long-winded in places, making it a formidable opponent to anyone seeing this stuff for the first time. There is a strong focus on QFT as a calculational tool, and if you ever plan on computing multi-loop corrections to scattering amplitudes, this book is probably the only show in town. The coverage of path integral quantization and renormalization group theory are also some of the best I've seen.
But, unless you seriously need to kick the shit out of quantum field theory, there are more relaxed, conceptually-oriented, and well-written texts out there, like Mandl & Shaw or Ryder.
But, unless you seriously need to kick the shit out of quantum field theory, there are more relaxed, conceptually-oriented, and well-written texts out there, like Mandl & Shaw or Ryder.
January 25, 2016
An excellent, thoroughly readable and pedagogically excellent introduction to the field, starting from the basics of field quantisation, through some systematics of renormalisation and into an exploration of non-abelian gauge theory, with very good problem sets as well.
There are aspects of the discussion which could use a little more rigour, the most obvious example being the discussion of the renormalisation group, and I would have liked to have seen a more detailed discussion of the renormalisation process, but overall very good.
There are aspects of the discussion which could use a little more rigour, the most obvious example being the discussion of the renormalisation group, and I would have liked to have seen a more detailed discussion of the renormalisation process, but overall very good.
December 18, 2019
This was very hard, but very clear and thus very helpful. I couldn't imagine a better book to make the leap from quantum mechanics to quantum field theory. My favorite passage:
"The basic feature of anticommuting numbers is that they anticommute." (p. 299)
However, the term "introduction" in the title must not be deceptive. The required previous knowledge is considerable and those who have not familiarized themselves with classical electrodynamics, quantum mechanics and the corresponding mathematical tools in advance will hardly succeed in getting started with this book.
"The basic feature of anticommuting numbers is that they anticommute." (p. 299)
However, the term "introduction" in the title must not be deceptive. The required previous knowledge is considerable and those who have not familiarized themselves with classical electrodynamics, quantum mechanics and the corresponding mathematical tools in advance will hardly succeed in getting started with this book.
November 24, 2022
This book taught me that I am not nearly as smart as I thought.
In all seriousness, it's a very thorough if slightly dated book. If I had to pick one book to learn QFT, this might be it. The only real problem is there aren't official solutions available, so if trying to self study you'll need to do some digging to make sure your solutions are correct.
In all seriousness, it's a very thorough if slightly dated book. If I had to pick one book to learn QFT, this might be it. The only real problem is there aren't official solutions available, so if trying to self study you'll need to do some digging to make sure your solutions are correct.
November 27, 2023
This book gave me mixed feelings.
I found the first chapters about the quantization of fields very unclear. I think that this fundamental introduction is much more well explained in other books which are not about quantum fields in the first place, such as "Geometry and spacetime" by Carroll or are about more advanced topics such as "Introduction to Quantum effects in gravitation" by Mukhanov.
The calculations in the chapters about QED, the scattering amplitudes and the renormalization are very well made and very useful to approach the basic tools used in QFT. As a student I really appreciated all the explanations and the full calculation reported.
I found the part about perturbation theory the best part of the book.
I found really hard to study renormalization theory and RG flow in Peskin. As a personal point of view this is the weakest part of the book. In particular, in the part about the epsilon expansion, I had hard time in following all the steps in the calculations. I think that the topic is covered much better in the classic "Field theory" by Ramond. However, this comment could be affected by excessive subjectivity since, personally, renormalization theory is the topic in physics that has always created the most difficulties to me.
As an Introduction to the subject I think that the final chapters about the spontaneous symmetry breaking, the Higgs mechanism and the Weak and Strong interaction do their job without excelling or failing.
After all I would like to suggest this book as a first approach to QFT. After having assimilated the fundamental concepts and having digested the necessary calculation tools, I would move on to Weinberg's book.
I found the first chapters about the quantization of fields very unclear. I think that this fundamental introduction is much more well explained in other books which are not about quantum fields in the first place, such as "Geometry and spacetime" by Carroll or are about more advanced topics such as "Introduction to Quantum effects in gravitation" by Mukhanov.
The calculations in the chapters about QED, the scattering amplitudes and the renormalization are very well made and very useful to approach the basic tools used in QFT. As a student I really appreciated all the explanations and the full calculation reported.
I found the part about perturbation theory the best part of the book.
I found really hard to study renormalization theory and RG flow in Peskin. As a personal point of view this is the weakest part of the book. In particular, in the part about the epsilon expansion, I had hard time in following all the steps in the calculations. I think that the topic is covered much better in the classic "Field theory" by Ramond. However, this comment could be affected by excessive subjectivity since, personally, renormalization theory is the topic in physics that has always created the most difficulties to me.
As an Introduction to the subject I think that the final chapters about the spontaneous symmetry breaking, the Higgs mechanism and the Weak and Strong interaction do their job without excelling or failing.
After all I would like to suggest this book as a first approach to QFT. After having assimilated the fundamental concepts and having digested the necessary calculation tools, I would move on to Weinberg's book.
July 3, 2025
Read a good portion of the part 1 and 2 of this book. This is a classic QFT textbook that many students will encounter if they ever studied the subject. The first four to five chapters are already enough to gave you some basic footing in the subject.
The reading experience isn’t always pleasant. The material is dense (both computationally and conceptually), and crucial steps are also omitted at times. So if this is your first QFT textbook, I’d strongly advice having a second book just to help break down some things here. That said, the book has excellent coverage of more advanced topics. Dimensional regularization, renormalization, and RG flow is explained beautifully here. So is the path integral approach and effective actions. I am going through the non-Abelian gauge theory section soon by myself in order to understand Yang-Mills theory and aspects of QCD.
Would give this a 3.5/5. Would recommend it, just know what you’re getting yourself into.
The reading experience isn’t always pleasant. The material is dense (both computationally and conceptually), and crucial steps are also omitted at times. So if this is your first QFT textbook, I’d strongly advice having a second book just to help break down some things here. That said, the book has excellent coverage of more advanced topics. Dimensional regularization, renormalization, and RG flow is explained beautifully here. So is the path integral approach and effective actions. I am going through the non-Abelian gauge theory section soon by myself in order to understand Yang-Mills theory and aspects of QCD.
Would give this a 3.5/5. Would recommend it, just know what you’re getting yourself into.
June 18, 2025
The textbook I tried to read first was Srednicki, but that book confused me deeply, so I switched to this one. I'm not in a position to compare this book with others on the subject, as it's the first textbook I've read on QFT. However, I can confidently recommend it to any graduate student who wants to get started with QFT.
It discusses everything in enough detail to enable a confused graduate student, such as myself, to develop a proper intuition and reasoning, which is no easy feat for something as vast as quantum field theory.
It discusses everything in enough detail to enable a confused graduate student, such as myself, to develop a proper intuition and reasoning, which is no easy feat for something as vast as quantum field theory.
August 11, 2020
This book by Michael Peskin is a heaven for anyone who wants to do computation in Quantum Field Theory. It prepares you for the challanges in the modern particle physics and string physics as well. Dr. Peskin has added addendum for this book on his website and equipped with that addendum on non perturbative QFT, a student is set on the way to learn supersymmetry and then, string theory and other related stuff.
November 19, 2025
It's a very rigorous book, I use it as a second book while reading Anthony Zee's book QFT in a nutshell, to avoid loosing the grasp on the mathematical formalism ( beware they approach the canonical and path integral formalisms in opposite order ). However for a first introduction on the quantum theory of fields, I found it difficult to approach.
May 6, 2022
Not for beginners. 3rd-year undergrad to professor is my recommended audience. Very good introduction to the many facets of QFT. Not for a first particle physics course. I recommend Griffiths elementary particles if you want to get into particle physics
April 15, 2021
Big page turner.
July 10, 2022
not good for beginners
January 23, 2024
my dearest companion for many years, rest well sweet prince
June 11, 2024
One of the great battles of my year in Oxford.
August 30, 2024
AWESOME!!!! Really great resource
The holy grail of QFT
The holy grail of QFT
Want to read
June 20, 2009recommended by Ken from QuISU as a gentler introduction to QFT than Weinberg's book
December 30, 2016
More than just an introduction...
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January 6, 2008This one is a must have for anyone serious about Quantum Field Theory.
Want to read
January 27, 2019Quantum field theory — for when you get serious
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews