Finite Quantum Electrodynamics The Causal Approach [Paperback]

In this textbook for graduate students in physics the author carefully analyses the role of causality in Q.E.D. This new approach avoids ultraviolet divergences, so that the detailed calculations of scattering processes and proofs can be carried out in a mathematically rigorous manner. Significant themes such as renormalizability, gauge invariance, unitarity, renormalization group, interacting fields and axial anomalies are discussed. The extension of the methods to non-abelian gauge theories is briefly described.
The book differs considerably from its first edition: Chap. 3 on Causal Perturbation Theory was completely rewritten and Chap. 4 on Properties of the S-Matrix and Chap. 5 on Other Electromagnetic Couplings are new.In this textbook for graduate students in physics the author carefully analyses the role of causality in Q.E.D. This new approach avoids ultraviolet divergences, so that the detailed calculations of scattering processes and proofs can be carried out in a mathematically rigorous manner. Significant themes such as renormalizability, gauge invariance, unitarity, renormalization group, interacting fields and axial anomalies are discussed. The extension of the methods to non-abelian gauge theories is briefly described.
The book differs considerably from its first edition: Chap. 3 on Causal Perturbation Theory was completely rewritten and Chap. 4 on Properties of the S-Matrix and Chap. 5 on Other Electromagnetic Couplings are new.0. Preliminaries.- 0.0 Historical Introduction.- 0.1 Minkowski Space and the Lorentz Group.- 0.2 Tensors in Minkowski Space.- 0.3 Some Topics of Scattering Theory.- 0.4 Problems.- 1. Relativistic Quantum Mechanics.- 1.1 Spinor Representations of the Lorentz Group.- 1.2 Invariant Field Equations.- 1.3 Algebraic Properties of the Dirac Equation.- 1.4 Discussion of the Free Dirac Equation.- 1.5 Gauge Invariance and Electromagnetic Fields.- 1.6 The Hydrogen Atom.- 1.7 Problems.- 2. Field Quantization.- 2.1 Secondl£,