Synopses & Reviews
In the 1950s the distinguished theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli delivered a landmark series of lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. His comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals of classical and modern physics was painstakingly recorded not only by his students, but also by a number of collaborators whose carefully edited transcriptions resulted in a remarkable six-volume work.
This volume, the sixth in the series, focuses on selected topics in field quantization and considers such subjects as quantization of the electron-positron field, response to an external field, quantization of free fields, quantum electrodynamics, interacting fields, the Heisenberg representation, the S-matrix, and Feynman's approach to quantum electrodynamics. As does each book in the series, Volume 6 includes an index and a wealth of helpful figures.
Originally published in 1973, the text remains entirely relevant thanks to Pauli's manner of presentation. As Victor F. Weisskopf notes in the Foreword to the series, Pauli's style is "commensurate to the greatness of its subject in its clarity and impact…. Pauli's lectures show how physical ideas can be presented clearly
Synopsis
Comprehensive, clearly presented work considers quantization of the electron-positron field, response to an external field, quantization of free field, quantum electrodynamics, interacting fields, and more.
Synopsis
Comprehensive, clearly presented work considers such subjects as quantization of the electron-positron field, response to an external field, quantization of free field, quantum electrodynamics, interacting fields, Heisenberg representation, the S-matrix, and Feynman's approach to quantum electrodynamics. An excellent resource for individuals as well as libraries and other institutions.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Victor F. Weisskopf
Preface by the Editor
1. Quantization of the Electron-Positron Field
1. The Heisenberg and interaction representations
2. Quantization of the harmonic oscillator
3. Second quantization for spin-1/2 particles
4. Sign of the energy; hole theory
5. Construction of the invariant functions
6. Charge-conjugated quantities
2. Response to an External Field: Charge Renormalization
7. Vacuum expectation values of expressions bilinear in the current
8. Vacuum polarization in an external field
9. Particles with zero spin
10. Evaluation of the Kernals K and L
11. "The "causal" kernels Kcµv and Lcµv"
12. Impossibility of canceling the self-charge
3. "Quantization of Free Fields: Spin 0 and 1/2, Quantum Electrodynamics"
13. The invariant functions
14. "Quantization of force-free, uncharged, spin-0 fields"
15. Quantum electrodynamics in vacuum
16. Quantum electrodynamics in canonical notation
17. Various representations
18. Theory of positrons (spin-1/2 particles)
4. Interacting Fields: Interaction Representation and S-Matrix
19. Electrons interacting with the electromagnetic field
20. Charged particles with zero spin
21. The interaction representation
22. Dyson's integration method
23. The P* product for spin-zero
5. Heisenberg Representation: S-Matrix and Charge Renormalization
24. The S-matrix and the Heisenberg representation
25. Renormalized fields in the Heisenberg representation
6. The S-Matrix: Applications
26. The relation between the S-matrix and the cross-section
27. An application of the Dyson formalism: Moller scattering
28. Discussion of the Dc function
29. The electron self-energy in an external homogeneous electromagnetic field
7. Feynman's Approach to Quantum Electrodynamics
30. The path integral method
Supplementary Bibliography
Appendix. Comments by the Editor
Index