ABSTRACT

Choice Outstanding Title, September 2020

This book fills a gap in the middle ground between quantum mechanics of a single electron to the concept of a quantum field. In doing so, the book is divided into two parts; the first provides the necessary background to quantum theory extending from Planck’s formulation of black body radiation to Schrodinger’s equation; and the second part explores Dirac’s relativistic electron to quantum fields, finishing with an description of Feynman diagrams and their meaning.

Much more than a popular account, yet not too heavy so as to be inaccessible, this book assumes no prior knowledge of quantum physics or field theory and provides the necessary foundations for readers to then progress to more advanced texts on quantum field theory. It will be of interest to undergraduate students in physics and mathematics, in addition to an interested, general audience.

Features:

  • Provides an extensive yet accessible background to the concepts
  • Contains numerous, illustrative diagrams
  • Presents in-depth explanations of difficult subjects

chapter 1|17 pages

Mathematics

chapter 2|16 pages

Waves

chapter 3|9 pages

Electromagnetic Waves

chapter 4|25 pages

Kinetic Theory of Gases

chapter 5|18 pages

Quantum Theory

chapter 6|12 pages

The Bohr Atom

chapter 7|29 pages

The New Quantum Theory

chapter 8|37 pages

Relativity

chapter 9|29 pages

Advanced Mathematics

chapter 10|15 pages

Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

chapter 11|9 pages

Probability Flow

chapter 12|7 pages

Wave Functions and Spinors

chapter 13|14 pages

Classical Field Theory

chapter 14|11 pages

Lorentz Invariance

chapter 15|29 pages

The Electromagnetic Field

chapter 16|20 pages

The Quantum Field

chapter 17|20 pages

Feynman Diagrams

chapter 18|2 pages

Conclusion