Classical covariant fields / Mark Burgess.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Burgess, Mark, 1966- author.

Series:

Cambridge monographs on mathematical physics.

Cambridge monographs on mathematical physics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Field theory (Physics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 529 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Summary:

This 2002 book discusses the classical foundations of field theory, using the language of variational methods and covariance. It explores the limits of what can be achieved with purely classical notions, and shows how these have a deep and important connection with the second quantized field theory, which follows on from the Schwinger Action Principle. The book takes a pragmatic view of field theory, focusing on issues which are usually omitted from quantum field theory texts and cataloging results which are hard to find in the literature. Care is taken to explain how results arise and how to interpret them physically, for graduate students starting out in the field. An ideal supplementary text for courses on elementary field theory, group theory and dynamical systems, it is also a valuable reference for researchers working in these and related areas. It has been reissued as an Open Access publication on Cambridge Core.

Contents:

Foreword; Part I. Fields: 1. Introduction; 2. The electromagnetic field; 3. Field parameters; 4. The action principle; 5. Classical field dynamics; 6. Statistical interpretation of the field; 7. Examples and applications; Part II. Groups and Fields: 8. Field transformations; 9. Spacetime transformations; 10. Kinematical and dynamical transformations; 11. Position and momentum; 12. Charge and current; 13. The non-relativistic limit; 14. Unified kinematics and dynamics; 15. Epilogue: quantum field theory; Part III. Reference: A Compendium of Fields: 16. Gallery of definitions; 17. The Schroedinger field; 18. The real Klein Gordon field; 19. The complex Klein Gordon field; 20. The Dirac field; 21. The Maxwell radiation field; 22. The massive Proca field; 23. Non-Abelian fields; 24. Chern-Simons theories; 25. Gravity as a field theory; Part IV. Appendices.

Notes:

Reissued as Open Access in 2022. Originally published in 2005.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 04 Nov 2022).

ISBN:

9781009289887

Access Restriction:

Open Access. Unrestricted online access