Description
Viva Books Basics of Quantum Electrodynamics by Ioan Merches Dorian Tatomir Roxana E. Lupu
Quantum Field Theory (QFT) sometimes called ”second quantization” is one of the greatest achievements of the human mind. It is a fact that no modern research in both physics and any of its diverse branches (condensed matter physics statistical mechanics stochastic processes etc.) can be approached without a good background in QFT. This theory brings together quantum mechanics and relativity providing a natural framework for describing subatomic phenomena. In particular the interactions between subatomic particles are intermediated by fields such as the electromagnetic field. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the quantum field theory that describes the interaction of electrically charged particles via electromagnetic fields. This theory has proven spectacularly successful in describing the interaction of light with matter. One of the founding fathers of QED Richard Feynman has called it “the jewel of physics for its extremely accurate predictions (the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron the Lamb shift etc.). A text on this subject must present the intimate connection between Quantum Mechanics and QED at an appropriate level in two broad steps: first the quantization of the free fields involved and then the theory of their interactions with applications. The authors’detailed presentation of the field quantization the original distribution of the theory and the study of the most important interaction processes in QED make this text a useful guide for those studying physics at both undergraduate and graduate levels.