Undergraduate Course: Relativistic Quantum Field Theory (PHYS11021)
Course Outline
| School | School of Physics and Astronomy |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course begins with a review of relativistic wave equations. It introduces the Lagrangian formulation for classical fields and then discusses the quantisation of free fields with spins 0, 1/2 and 1. An outline is given of perturbation theory for interacting fields and Feynman diagram methods for Quantum Electrodynamics are introduced. |
| Course description |
- Introduction and revision
- Classical Lagrangian field theory.
- Lorentz covariance of relativistic field equations.
- Quantisation of the Klein-Gordon field.
- Quantisation of the Dirac field.
- The Electromagnetic field.
- Interacting fields.
- Feynman diagrams.
- Transition rates and cross-sections.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand relativistic wave equations for spin 0, 1/2 and 1 fields
- Quantise fields using canonical commutaion relations, and understand the particle interpretation using raising and lowering operators
- Understand the interation picture, the S-matrix, and Wick's theorem
- Derive the Feynman rules for QED, and use them to compute amplitudes
- Compute elementary deacy rates and cross-sections in QED
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Reading List
Quantum Field Theory (2nd Edition), Franz Mandl, and Graham Shaw (Wiley, 2010)
Quantum Field Theory, Michael Peskin and Daniel Schroeder, (Westview Press, 1995)
The Quantum Theory of Fields, Steven Weinberg (Cambridge, 2005) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged. |
| Keywords | RQFT |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Richard Ball
Tel: (0131 6)50 5248
Email: R.D.Ball@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Wendy Hisbent
Tel: (0131 6)50 5783
Email: w.hisbent@ed.ac.uk |
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