Undergraduate Course: Relativistic Quantum Field Theory (PHYS11021)
Course Outline
| School | School of Physics and Astronomy |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | 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. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course a student will be able to:
1)Appreciate the need for a field-theoretical approach to relativistic quantum theory
2)Write down the Lagrangian and derive the field equations for scalar, spinor and vector fields, demonstrate Lorentz covariance of the field equations
3)Derive and appreciate the significance of Noether's theorem
4)Quantise the real and complex scalar fields using canonical commutation relations, derive the quantum Hamiltonian, interpret the spectrum, appreciate relativistic normalisation
5)Derive the conserved current and charge operators for the complex scalar field and explain the connection between charge conservation and symmetry
6)Derive the propagator for real and complex scalar fields
7)Quantise the Dirac field using anticommutators, derive the Hamiltonian, interpret the spectrum, derive the conserved current and charge operator, appreciate the connection between charge conservation and symmetry, derive the propagator for the Dirac field
8)Understand the difficulties of em field quantisation due to gauge invariance, quantise the EM field using the Gupta-Bleuler formalism, derive the Hamiltonian, spectrum, and propagator
9)Explain the minimal coupling presciption for adding electromagnetic interactions, understand the gauge principle
10)Understand the interaction picture, the S-matrix, Wick's Theorem
11)Explain the origin of Feynman diagrams and Feynman rules; draw the Feynman diagrams for Compton scattering, electron scattering, electron and photon self-energies
12)Apply the Feynman rules to derive the amplitudes for elementary processes in QED
13)Explain the origin of the expressions for the transition rate, decay rates and unpolarised cross section
14)Apply all of the above to unseen problems in relativistic quantum field theory |
Assessment Information
Degree Examination, 100%
Visiting Student Variant Assessment
Degree Examination, 100% |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
¿ 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.
|
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | RQFT |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Anthony Kennedy
Tel: (0131 6)50 5272
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Paula Wilkie
Tel: (0131) 668 8403
Email: |
|
|
University Homepage