Quantum Field Theory II: Quantum Electrodynamics

The author, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Eberhard Zeidler, is retired director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig (Germany). In 1996 he was one of the founding directors of this institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina. In 2006 he was awarded the "Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftspreis" of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.  He is author of the following books:(a) E. Zeidler, Nonlinear Functional Analysis and its Applications, Vols. I-IV,Springer Verlag New York, 1984-1988 (third edition 1998).(b) E. Zeidler, Applied Functional Analysis, Vol. 1: Applications to Mathematical Physics, 2nd edition, 1997, Springer Verlag, New York.(c) E. Zeidler, Applied Functional Analysis, Vol. 2: Main Principles and Their Applications, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1995.(d) E. Zeidler, Oxford Users' Guide to Mathematics, Oxford University Press, 2004 (translated from German).

Part I. Introduction.- Prologue.- 1. Mathematical Principles of Modern Natural Philosophy.- 2. The Basic Strategy of Extracting Finite Information from Infinities -- Ariadne's Thread in Renormalization Theory.- 3. The Power of Combinatorics.- 4. The Strategy of Equivalence Classes in Mathematics.- Part II. Basic Ideas in Classical Mechanics.- 5. Geometrical Optics.- 6. The Principle of Critical Action and the Harmonic Oscillator -- Ariadne's Thread in Classical Mechanics.- Part III. Basic Ideas in Quantum Mechanics.- 7. Quantization of the Harmonic Oscillator -- Ariadne's Thread in Quantization.- 8. Quantum Particles on the Real Line -- Ariadne's Thread in Scattering Theory.- 9. A Glance at General Scattering Theory.- Part IV. Quantum Electrodynamics (QED).- 10. Creation and Annihilation Operators.- 11. The Basic Equations in Quantum Electrodynamics.- 12. The Free Quantum Fields of Electrons, Positrons, and Photons.- 13. The Interacting Quantum Field, and the Magic Dyson Series for the $S$-Matrix.- 14. The Beauty of Feynman Diagrams in QED.- 15. Applications to Physical Effects.- Part V. Renormalization.- 16. The Continuum Limit.- 17. Radiative Corrections of Lowest Order.- 18. A Glance at Renormalization to all Orders of Perturbation Theory.- 19. Perspectives.- Epilogue.- References.- List of Symbols.- Index

From the reviews:

"This book is the second volume of an impressive monograph that provides introductory accounts of important topics in mathematical physics for graduate students and research workers. It combines theories and applications to demonstrate how the rigorous mathematical point of view helps to clarify and answer questions arising in quantum field theory with a special emphasis on QED. ... Supplemented with an extensive bibliography and historical remarks and citations, this is in my perspective a perfect book for mathematicians and physicists ... ." (Gert Roepstorff, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1155, 2009)

"It is very valuable to allow mathematicians to learn about one of the most successful physical theories, and ... bring more mathematical approaches to QFT under the attention of physicists. ... the book has a very rich up-to-date bibliography, hints for further reading closing each chapter and many historical remarks and quotes. ... Quantum field theory. II. Quantum electrodynamics does a great job in guiding the interested reader through the literature ... at the same time giving an overview of many aspects of quantum electrodynamics." (Walter D. van Suijlekom, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2010 a)

"The book by Zeidler ... is the second volume of a projected six-volume treatise on quantum field theory. The present volume is on quantum electrodynamics ... . The book under review treats so many topics that the reader feels like a tourist on a package tour that visits 19 countries in 5 days, neglecting not a single monument or picture gallery." (William G. Faris, SIAM Review, Vol. 52 (2), 2010)

From the reviews:"This book is the second volume of an impressive monograph that provides introductory accounts of important topics in mathematical physics for graduate students and research workers. It combines theories and applications to demonstrate how the rigorous mathematical point of view helps to clarify and answer questions arising in quantum field theory with a special emphasis on QED. … Supplemented with an extensive bibliography and historical remarks and citations, this is in my perspective a perfect book for mathematicians and physicists … ." (Gert Roepstorff, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1155, 2009)“It is very valuable to allow mathematicians to learn about one of the most successful physical theories, and … bring more mathematical approaches to QFT under the attention of physicists. … the book has a very rich up-to-date bibliography, hints for further reading closing each chapter and many historical remarks and quotes. … Quantum field theory. II. Quantum electrodynamics does a great job in guiding the interested reader through the literature … at the same time giving an overview of many aspects of quantum electrodynamics.” (Walter D. van Suijlekom, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2010 a)“The book by Zeidler … is the second volume of a projected six-volume treatise on quantum field theory. The present volume is on quantum electrodynamics … . The book under review treats so many topics that the reader feels like a tourist on a package tour that visits 19 countries in 5 days, neglecting not a single monument or picture gallery.” (William G. Faris, SIAM Review, Vol. 52 (2), 2010)