PHYS 624 (Advanced Quantum Mechanics), Fall 2010
 
(Check here frequently for important announcements related to the course)
 
 
General Information: 
 
Class location/time: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 1.00 pm. to 1.50 pm.,
1219 Physics Building
 
Instructor: Kaustubh Agashe, 4119 Physics Building; Phone: (301) 405-6018; E-mail:
kagashe@umd.edu; Office Hours: just after class or by appointment
 
Grader: ; Prateek Agrawal, 4219 Physics Building; Phone (301) 405-6073, 
E-mail: apr@umd.edu.
 
Motivation: 
 
This course will provide an introduction to Quantum Field Theory (QFT). QFT is  required for
an understanding of the Standard Model of particle physics - a theory describing the 
interactions and properties of the elementary particles - and ideas beyond it. QFT is also
 relevant for the study of cosmology (especially in view of particle physics connections of
 cosmology) and has applications in condensed matter physics.
 
Who should take this course: The target audience is graduate students who wish to do 
research in any area of theoretical physics, especially high energy/cosmology theory. It will 
also be useful for those planning to work in high energy experiments.
 
Prerequisites: Graduate-level  courses in Quantum Mechanics, Classical Mechanics and
Electromagnetism
 
Textbooks (all are on reserve in library):
 
Required text: 
 
A First Book of Quantum Field Theory, by Amitabh Lahiri and Palsh B. Pal
 
Other recommended texts:
 
An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, by Michael E. Peskin and Daniel V. Schroeder
 
Quantum Field Theory by F.~Mandl and G.~Shaw
 
(the above two books follow an approach/sequence of topics similar to the book by 
Lahiri and Pal.)
 
Advanced Quantum Mechanics, by J. J. Sakurai
 
Field Theory: a Modern Primer, by Pierre.Ramond
 
The Quantum Theory of Fields, by Steven Weinberg
 
(the above three books follow a somewhat different approach/sequence of topics.)
 
 
Grading
 
The course grade will be based on homeworks (75%) assigned here on 
a weekly basis (roughly) and a take-home final exam (25%) (details on final exam
will be posted later).
 
Homework solutions will be posted here. Some notes to supplement the lectures
are here.
 
Probable Syllabus
 
Time permitting, we will cover most of Chapters 1 through 12 of A First Book of Quantum 
Field Theory, by Lahiri and Pal, i.e., canonical quantization of scalar, fermion and
electromagnetic fields, followed by derivation of Feyman rules and their application to 
calculating processes in quantum electrodynamics (both lowest order and radiative effects).
 
Topics from the remainder of the book (and the technique of path integral quantization) might
be covered in PHYS 751, 752 and 851.
 

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