MITPhysics8.323

Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I

planned·~168 hours total

Professor

Hong Liu

Textbook

An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory
Michael E. Peskin, Daniel V. Schroeder · ISBN 9780201503975

Prerequisites

8.06 — Quantum Physics III

Materials

Course page →

Graduate-level QFT I. Canonical quantisation of scalar and spinor fields, perturbation theory, Feynman diagrams, intro to renormalisation. Peskin & Schroeder is the canonical reference.

Syllabus

Week 1
Why QFT? Special relativity recap
Week 2
Classical field theory; Lagrangian and Hamiltonian
Week 3
Free scalar field; canonical quantisation
Week 4
Propagators; Wick's theorem
Week 5
Interactions; Feynman rules
Week 6
Scattering amplitudes; cross-sections
Week 7
Path integral formulation
Week 8
Dirac field; spinors
Week 9
Yukawa interactions; QED at tree level
Week 10
Symmetries; Noether's theorem
Week 11
Renormalisation — power counting
Week 12
Loop diagrams; vacuum polarisation