How To Write A Second Edition: Advanced Topics in Quantum Field Theory

 The first edition of Shifman’s Advanced Topics in Quantum Field Theory was a welcomed addition to the physics literature as well as a wake-up call.

The first edition’s claim to fame was that it was the first text for a generation to bring all the cutting-edge studies in quantum field theory (with a specific emphasis on non-perturbative QFT) into a singular tome. Previously, many of the topics within the book were either contained exclusively within impenetrable monographs; or annoying absent from all written books and contained solely within research papers. Even though this text is not an exhaustive exercise in pedagogy, it holds the hand of the reader much more firmly than other books of its kind.

Moreover, this leads nicely to another strength of the text- the fact that it is not a monograph. The purpose of this book is very much so to induct the reader into the strange world of research-level quantum field theory without assuming too much. This is a nice contrast from the typical monograph gauntlet of assuming that the reader is already an expert in the field. Examples of this within the text include a list of references given per chapter; comment boxes in the margins of the page, outlining any key points or pointing the reader to past (or future) chapters, as well as insights throughout the text on the specific details of how to a calculation (or the little details one is to see, if one were to do the calculation). 

Thus, I am glad to say that not only does the second edition of the text follows suit, but it improves greatly upon its presentation.

Arguably, the most noticeable feature of the second edition is the inclusion of solutions to all the exercises in the text. This increases the proficiency of the book as a textbook, which is aimed at being a portable lecture course for the graduate student. Additionally, this excellent addition blows away all the current competitors in the field. To my knowledge (though I am happy to be corrected), this is the only book of its kind to teach readers step-by-step how to conduct research in these areas.

The second (very much appreciated) edition is the inclusion of two new sections on the relatively new themes (and extremely popular) of higher-form symmetries and anomalies in supersymmetric theories. The material included in the text provides a great jumping-on point for the uninitiated.

The book (for those of you unfortunate enough not to have read the initial edition) divides itself primarily between two themes: non-perturbative QFT and supersymmetry. The first section starts with a review of spontaneous symmetry breaking, before moving on to solitons of varying dimensions; instantons (the Euclidean cousins of the soliton); false vacuum decays; anomalies and confinement in gauge theories.

The second part of the book focuses on supersymmetry from the viewpoint of gauges and then (in fashion with the previous section) looks at the non-perturbative aspects of these theories (solitons).

To conclude, authors of similar textbooks or monographs should fear for their royalties after the publication of Shifman’s second edition. Not only have the new additions fixed the shortcomings of the previous edition, but they have also made the text indispensable to any serious high-energy physicist.

 

Advanced Topics in Quantum Field Theory: A Lecture Course 2nd edition

By Mikhail Shifman 

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN:9781108885911

Price: £ 74.99

Available from: Advanced topics quantum field theory lecture course 2nd edition | Theoretical physics and mathematical physics | Cambridge University Press

 

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