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Home Page for Physics 217 (Quantum Field Theory I) for the 2016 Fall Quarter

This page contains copies of the class handouts, and other items of interest to the Physics 217 class. This course is being offered during the 2016 fall quarter at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

new!!! I have added an alternative solution for problem 1 of the final exam to the Final Exam Solution Set. This revised version has been re-posted to Section V of this website.

Have a happy and restful holiday season! Feel free to stop by my office any time during the winter quarter (and retrieve your graded final exam).

Table of Contents

[ I. General Information and Syllabus | II. Disability Statement to Students in Class | III. Links to the Web Site for the Textbook | IV. Problem Sets and Exams | V. Solutions to Problem Sets and Exams | VI. Other Class Handouts | VII. Free Textbooks and Lecture Notes on Quantum Field Theory | VIII. Useful articles and reviews]


I. General Information and Syllabus

The General Information and Syllabus handout is available in either PDF or Postscript format     [PDF | Postscript]
Some of the information in this handout is reproduced here.

General Information

Instructor Howard Haber
Office ISB 326
Phone 459-4228
Office Hours Mondays 3--4 pm and Thursdays, 2--3 pm
e-mail haber@scipp.ucsc.edu
webpage scipp.ucsc.edu/~haber/

Class Hours

Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:50--11:25~am, in ISB 231.

Required Textbook

Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model , by Matthew D. Schwartz (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Course Grading and Requirements

65% five problem sets
35% Final Exam (Thursday December 8, 2016, 12--3 pm)

The requirements of this course consist of problem sets and a final exam (there is no midterm exam). Problem sets will be handed out on a regular basis. The homework problem sets are not optional. You are encouraged to discuss the class material and homework problems with your classmates and to work in groups, but all submitted problems should represent your own work and understanding.

The final exam will be held in ISB 231 and will cover the complete course material. You will be allowed to consult the course textbook, class handouts and personal handwritten notes during the exam. You must take the final exam to pass the course.

Course Syllabus

  1. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics
  2. Classical Relativistic Field Theory
  3. The Lorentz and Poincaré Groups and their Lie algebras
  4. Field Theory of a Spin-Zero Particle
  5. Two-component fermion fields
  6. Four-component fermion fields and the Dirac Equation
  7. Field Theory of a Spin-1/2 Particle
  8. Discrete Symmetries (CPT and all that)
  9. Interacting Fields and Scattering Theory
  10. Feynman Diagrams
  11. Elementary Processes in Quantum Electrodynamics

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II. Disability Statement to Students in Class

UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating an academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you are a student with a disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access in this course, please submit your Accommodation Authorization Letter from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me privately during my office hours or by appointment, preferably within the first two weeks of the quarter. At this time, we would also like us to discuss ways we can ensure your full participation in the course. We encourage all students who may benefit from learning more about DRC services to contact DRC by phone at 831-459-2089 or by email at. drc@ucsc.edu.

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III. Links to the Website of the Textbook

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IV. Problem Sets

Problem sets and exams are available in either PDF or Postscript formats

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V. Solutions to Problem Sets

The problem set solutions are available in either PDF or Postscript formats.

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VI. Other Class Handouts

1. Lecture notes on fermions in quantum field theory, which contain a brief review on the two-component spinor formalism and the translation between two-component and four-component spinor notation.     [PDF]
For further details, see Two-component spinor techniques and Feynman rules for quantum field theory and supersymmetry, by Herbi K. Dreiner, Howard E. Haber and Stephen P. Martin.     [PDF]

2. This class handout, entitled Two-particle Lorentz Invariant phase space, provides the explicit evaluation of the two-particle Lorentz phase space integral. Using this result, I provide a derivation of the formulae for the decay rate and cross section for processes with two particles in the final state.     [PDF | Postscript]

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VII. Free Textbooks and Lecture Notes on Quantum Field Theory

1. Introduction to Quantum Field Theory I, lectures by Horatiu Nastase (June 2012)     [PDF]

2. Particles and Fields, by Hagen Kleinert (April, 2016).     [PDF]

3. Quantum Field Theory in the Heisenberg Picture. This is Chapter 1 of a book entitled Covariant Operator Formalism of Gauge Theories and Quantum Gravity that is provided free of charge by World Scientific. It provides a very nice summary treatment to the theoretical framework of quantum field theory in the Heisenberg picture.     [PDF]

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VIII. Useful articles and reviews

1. Everything you have ever wanted to know about two-component spinor techniques can be found in a review article entitled Two-component spinor techniques and Feynman rules for quantum field theory and supersymmetry, by Herbi K. Dreiner, Howard E. Haber and Stephen P. Martin.     [PDF]

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haber@scipp.ucsc.edu
Last Updated: December 8, 2016