I want to go through the book Fields by Warren Siegel, given here:
http://xxx.lanl.gov/PS_cache/hep-th/pdf/9912/9912205.pdf

I had in mind to go through Weinberg's 3-volume set, but there's one problem, but they're not free, and I'm broke. So, I'd like to go through Siegel's book.

Who wants to be my study buddy?

I'll leave thus up for about a week and wait for the responses to pour in.

"I can see clearly now the rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in my way"

Jimmy Cliff

Come on guys jump in! I know the waters deep, its over my head, but I can dog paddle, and Tom has a nice long pole, I hope ..... Tom, do we get life jackets?

"I can see clearly now the rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in my way"

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Originally posted by Integral:
hey, where is everybody! I thought there would be a whole slew of people signing up for this!

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Ha Ha--I wasn't. I was being sarcastic when I talked about the responses pouring in.

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Come on guys jump in! I know the waters deep, its over my head, but I can dog paddle, and Tom has a nice long pole, I hope ..... Tom, do we get life jackets?

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Sure, you can have a life jacket--just keep your paws off my "nice long pole".

I'll leave this up till Integral gets back, then we'll get into it.

Tom

For some time, I've been thinking about diving into Peskin & Schroeder, but this is probably the best way to force myself to do it. I must say though, that these days I use to have very little free time left, so you'll have to be somewhat patient.

Also, I'll be out for a week, but I guess that fits well with Integral's start. In the meantime, we can agree on how we want to do this. Do you have any ideas about it already?

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Originally posted by ahrkron:
I'm definitely in!

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Excellent!

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Also, I'll be out for a week, but I guess that fits well with Integral's start. In the meantime, we can agree on how we want to do this.

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Integral is expected back on Aug 29 or 30, so there's plenty of time.

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Do you have any ideas about it already?

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I have no timetable. I want to keep it loose, because there's no telling how long it's going to take me to "get it". I know QFT at the level of Sakurai and Bjorken and Drell (both of which are pre-QCD), and the stuff I picked up in the meetings of our research group (which no longer exists).

I want to be able to:

• Solve all the homework problems.


• Derive all the equations.


• Discuss the subject fluently.


• And most importantly, extend the the methods to new problems.

The last item is something I plan to do on my own, apart from this. I'd like to set weekly (bi-weekly?) goals which can be discussed in this forum. I'd also like to exchange email addresses with the participants in case we want to exchange ideas that involve a lot of equations (which we can't do here).

David

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Originally posted by David:
I'll probably listen in to your conversations here and follow along where I can though...

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Why don't you just join us?

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Originally posted by Tom:

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Originally posted by David:
I'll probably listen in to your conversations here and follow along where I can though...

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Why don't you just join us?

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Time is a big problem at the moment - full-time job plus doing a lot of other research (tends to be in the evenings because my collaborators are back at my uni in Australia) and also on a deadline for a feature I'm writing for New Scientist...

But if I have time, I'll join in where I can (if it isn't disruptive)...

David

One quick question, what kind of mathematics are involved in QFT?

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Originally posted by Nebula:
One quick question, what kind of mathematics are involved in QFT?

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Anything you can think of: real and complex analysis, tensor analysis, abstract algebra, ODEs, PDEs, etc...

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Originally posted by Nebula:
Yeah thats what I was affraid of. I have never done any Group Theory or tensor analysis.

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This could make it pretty tough going for you... QFT is pretty much a theory of symmetries in nature and the mathematical tool used for describing symmetries is group theory. You definitely need some familiarity with group theory to deal with this particular course in QFT. I'm trying to think of a good way to get up to speed quickly...

I don't think the tensor requirement is such a big problem. However, you do need to have seen some of it before or else the combination of a new notation plus new ideas could be too much. I'd recommend you find a special relativity text that uses tensors somewhere in the development (e.g. Rindler's Introduction to SR) to accustomise yourself with them.

The Siegel book is actually quite a mathematically sophisticated approach, right from the beginning. I personally find Weinberg far easier, especially when comparing the earlier parts of each book. Although Siegel makes a strong pedagogical argument for why he does things the way he does, it requires a higher level of mathematical background to get started.

David

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This could make it pretty tough going for you... QFT is pretty much a theory of symmetries in nature and the mathematical tool used for describing symmetries is group theory. You definitely need some familiarity with group theory to deal with this particular course in QFT.

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Originally posted by Nebula:

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This could make it pretty tough going for you... QFT is pretty much a theory of symmetries in nature and the mathematical tool used for describing symmetries is group theory. You definitely need some familiarity with group theory to deal with this particular course in QFT.

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I noticed, I took a look at the link Tom provided and spotted the symmetry group notation. I had planned on studying group theory in my spare time but of course got side tracked in other things. Do you know of any good books that explain group theory?

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Time is of the Essence; but what is the Essence of Time?

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here is a very short introduction to group theory:
http://members.tripod.com/~dogschool/

some books about group theory and its use in physics:
http://www.wspc.com/books/physics/0097.html

http://www.wspc.com/books/physics/1279.html

I'm going to print out the first chapter of the book this weekend. Let's get started!

Tom

So far, I've got Integral and Ahrkron.

Tom

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Originally posted by Tom:
Oh yes, if you want in on this, speak up before Monday. After that, "regisration" for this class is closed.

So far, I've got Integral and Ahrkron.

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- Sivakami.

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Originally posted by ssivakami:
What does "registration" involve ?!

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You just post your intent to participate right here.

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As in ... how do you plan on going about these classes ? I might want to join in too.

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We will post discusion of the book here, and exchange email addresses in case we want to exchange documents with equations in them. The prerequisites for this "class" are SR and QM--have a look at the book and see if you think you can tackle it.

I will be learning this particular subject, but there will be more "classes" here in the future which I will be teaching--I have found many, many textbooks online. I'd like to see this forum become "Physics Forums University."

Tom