FIELD THEO CONDENSED MATTER (V1)

This book provides a pedagogical introduction to the concepts and methods of quantum field theory necessary for the study of condensed matter and ultracold atomic gases. After a thorough discussion of the basic methods of field theory and many-body physics (functional integrals, perturbation theory, Feynman diagrams, correlation functions and linear response theory, symmetries and their consequences, etc.), the book covers a wide range of topics, from electron gas and Fermi-liquid theory to superfluidity and superconductivity, magnetic instabilities in electron systems, and dynamical mean-field theory of Mott transition. The focus is on the study of model Hamiltonians, where the microscopic physics and characteristic energy scales are encoded into a few effective parameters, rather than first-principle methods which start from a realistic Hamiltonian at the microscopic level and then make material-specific predictions. The reader is expected to be familiar with elementary quantum mechanics and statistical physics, and some acquaintance with condensed-matter physics and ultracold gases may also be useful. No prior knowledge of field theory or many-body problem is required.

Contents:

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms
• List of Symbols and Notations
• Functional Integrals, Symmetries, and Correlation Functions:
  • Functional Integrals
  • Symmetries
  • Correlation and Response Functions
• Quantum Many-Body Systems (I):
  • Fermi-Liquid Theory
  • The Electron Gas
  • Magnetism in Lattice Fermion Systems
  • Superfluidity and Superconductivity
  • Quantum Magnetism
  • Baym–Kadanoff Formalism
• Index

Readership: Academics, physicists, chemists, biologists, historians of sciences.