Jean Zinn-Justin

Cea/Saclay Service de Physique Theorique Jean Zinn-Justin

Over the last twenty years quantum field theory has become not only the framework for the discussion of all fundamental interactions except gravity, but also for the understanding of second-order phase transitions in statistical mechanics.This advanced text is based on graduate courses and summer schools given by the author over a number of years. It approaches the subject in terms of path and functional intergrals, adopting a Euclidean metric and using the language of partition and correlation functions. Renormalization and therenormalization group are examined, as are critical phenomena and the role of instantons.Changes for this edition1. Extensive revision to eliminate a few bugs that had survived the second edition and (mainly) to improve the pedagogical presentation, as a result of experience gathered by lecturing.2. Additional new topics; holomorphic or coherent state path integral; functional integral and representation of the field theory S-matrix in the holomorphic formalis; non-relativistic limit of massive quantization and brief discussion of non-renormalization of quantum gravity based on Einsteinaction.3. Finally 65 pages of solutions or hints of solutions to the exercises at the ends of chapters.

Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena

Jean-Claude Le Guillou

Large-order Behaviour of Perturbation Theory

Introduced as a quantum extension of Maxwell's classical theory, quantum electrodynamics has been the first example of a Quantum Field Theory (QFT). Eventually, QFT has become the framework for the discussion of all fundamental interactions at the microscopic scale except, possibly, gravity. More surprisingly, it has also provided a framework for the understanding of second order phase transitions in statistical mechanics. As this work illustrates, QFT is the natural framework for the discussion of most systems involving an infinite number of degrees of freedom with local couplings. These systems range from cold Bose gases at the condensation temperature (about ten nanokelvin) to conventional phase transitions (from a few degrees to several hundred) and high energy particle physics up to a TeV, altogether more than twenty orders of magnitude in the energy scale. Therefore, this text sets out to present a work in which the strong formal relations between particle physics and the theory of critical phenomena are systematically emphasized. This option explains some of the choices made in the presentation. A formulation in terms of field integrals has been adopted to study the properties of QFT. The language of partition and correlation functions has been used throughout, even in applications of QFT to particle physics. Renormalization and renormalization group properties are systematically discussed. The notion of effective field theory and the emergence of renormalisable theories are described. The consequences for fine tuning and triviality issue are emphasized. This fifth edition has been updated and fully revised, e.g. in particle physics with progress in neutrino physics and the discovery of the Higgs boson. The presentation has been made more homogeneous througout the volume, and emphasis has been put on the notion of effective field theory and discussion of the emergence of renormalisable theories.

Fifth Edition

Daniel Iagolnitzer

Vincent Rivasseau

The International Conference on Theoretical Physics, TH-2002, took place in Paris from July 22 to 27 in the Conference Center of the UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, under aegis of the IUPAP, the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics and of the French and Euro pean Physical Societies, with a large support of several French, European and international Institutions. International and crossdisciplinary, TH-2002 welcomed around 1200 partic ipants representing all domains of modern theoretical physics. The conference offered a high-level scientific program, including 18 plenary lectures, 45 general lectures in thematic sessions and 140 more specialized lectures, partly invited and partly selected among proposals received from participants. Around 500 contribu tions were also presented as posters. Plenary lectures as well as general thematic lectures were addressed to a general audience of theoricians, not only to specialists. According to our commitments towards UNESCO and other sponsoring insti tutions, TH-2002 attributed more than 200 fellowships, mostly to scientists from developing countries and Eastern Europe, covering registration fees and, for more than half of them, stay expenses with student type accomodation. Special highlights of the conference included • the opening ceremony on July 22, with the participation of Mrs Claudie Haignere, French Minister of Research, and M. Walter Erdelen, General Ad joint Director for Sciences at UNESCO. Their opening addresses were espe cially appreciated and are reproduced below. This ceremony preceded the first lecture by Professor Cohen-Tannoudji, Physics Nobel prize winner.

TH-2002, Paris, July 22–27, 2002

International Conference on Theoretical Physics

This work tries to provide an elementary introduction to the notions of continuum limit and universality in statistical systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. The existence of a continuum limit requires the appearance of correlations at large distance, a situation that is encountered in second order phase transitions, near the critical temperature. In this context, we will emphasize the role of gaussian distributions and their relations with the mean field approximation and Landau's theory of critical phenomena. We will show that quasi-gaussian or mean-field approximations cannot describe correctly phase transitions in three space dimensions. We will assign this difficulty to the coupling of very different physical length scales, even though the systems we will consider have only local, that is, short range interactions. To analyze the unusual situation, a new concept is required: the renormalization group, whose fixed points allow understanding the universality of physical properties at large distance, beyond mean-field theory. In the continuum limit, critical phenomena can be described by quantum field theories. In this framework, the renormalization group is directly related to the renormalization process, that is, the necessity to cancel the infinities that arise in straightforward formulations of the theory. We thus discuss the renormalization group in the context of various relevant field theories. This leads to proofs of universality and to efficient tools for calculating universal quantities in a perturbative framework. Finally, we construct a general functional renormalization group, which can be used when perturbative methods are inadequate.

Phase Transitions and Renormalization Group

This work provides a systematic introduction to quantum field theory and renormalization group, as applied to particle physics and continuous macroscopic phase transitions.

Sidney A. Bludman

R. Mochkovitch

This volume introduces a spectroscopic and photometric classification of supernovae with the aim of relating these observational classifications to progenitor characteristics ( stellar core and envelope, circumstellar environment ) and to explosion mechanisms. Further chapters deal with supernova statistics, neutrino and gravitational wave detection of stellar collapses, late stages of stellar evolution culminating in binary star accretion-induced thermal runaway, deflagration or detonation, nuclear equation of state and weak coupling between neutrinos and matter. The evolution of supernova remnants and their effects on the interstellar medium are also considered, as are the possibilities of neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis.Special emphasis is placed on the fascinating results obtained from supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Supernovae

Theoretical physics is a vast set of subjects, ideas and methods, with wide and unexpected applications to many interdisciplinary problems. But no general international conference had tried to review in depth this huge and burgeoning field since the Trieste conference in 1968. The International Conference on Theoretical Physics, TH-2002, which took place at the Unesco building, Paris, from July 22 to 27, 2002, addressed this challenge.The reader will find in this book all invited and received contributions to the conference. After the general lectures of Nobel prize winners Anderson and Yang, the contributions by experts cover all aspects of modern theoretical physics ranging from particle physics, string theory, cosmology, statistical and condensed matter physics to dynamical systems and quantum chaos, the physics/biology interface, information theory and quantum computing.

Jean Zinn-Justin

About

Books

Join the club