Physics 571 - Quantum Field Theory II - Winter 2026

• Relativistic fermions: Majorana & Dirac fermions, Grassmann integration & Grassmann functional integrals, Feynman rules for fermions
• Symmetries and symmetry breaking: Discrete & continous symmetries, Goldstone bosons, phase transitions, topological defects
• Gauge theories: Abelian & non-Abelian gauge fields, gauge fixing & gauge field quantization, basic QED & QCD, confinement & Higgs phases

• M. Srednicki, Quantum Field Theory. Pedagogically good, although emphasis on φ³₆ theory is unusual.
• L. Brown, Quantum Field Theory. Excellent exposition, up to and including QED, but doesn't cover non-Abelian theories.
• S. Coleman, Quantum Field Theory. Republished lectures of a master educator. Sadly, wrong metric convention.

1. Quantum sine-Gordon equation as the massive Thirring model, S. Coleman
2. Nonlinear models in 2+ε dimensions, D. Friedan (See also this longer version) --- Jan R.
3. Asymptotic estimates in perturabation theory, G. Parisi
4. There are no Goldstone bosons in two dimensions, S. Coleman --- Via N.
5. Rigorous energy-entropy arguments, B. Simon & A. Sokal --- Hanson M.
6. Dynamical symmetry breaking in asymptotically free field theories, D. Gross & A. Neveu --- Bengt M.
7. Chiral symmetry, the 1/N expansion and the SU(N) Thirring model, E. Witten --- Paul K.
8. Diagonalization of the chiral-invariant Gross-Neveu hamiltonian, N. Andrei & J. Lowenstein
9. Charge shielding and quark confinement in the massive Schwinger model, S. Coleman
10. Constraints on supersymmetry breaking, E. Witten
11. Parity conservation in quantum chromodynamics, C. Vafa & E. Witten --- Sam B.
12. Chiral-symmetry breakdown in large-N chromodynamics, S. Coleman & E. Witten
13. Quark confinement and topology of gauge theories, A. Polyakov (See also section 4.3 in Gauge Fields and Strings) --- Ziyuan L.
14. Confinement of quarks, K. Wilson --- Luciano M.
15. Effective potential for the order parameter of gauge theories at finite temperature, N. Weiss
16. Fate of the false vacuum: Semiclassical theory, S. Coleman --- Ali K.
17. A planar diagram theory for strong interactions, G. 't Hooft
18. Baryons in the 1/N expansion, E. Witten