.... with the huge success of the quantum theory, starting especially with the Schrödinger equation in 1926, came a feeling among the leading physicists that mathematics should keep in the background or, as one person put it, `elegance is for tailors'. From the other side, mid-twentieth century mathematicians were not much more hospitable about intrusions of physics, as we can see, for instance, in Hardy's well known little essay. Walter was one of the first, in the post-war years, to try to put things back together." -- from the Foreword by Elliott Lieb This book contains Thirring's scientific contributions to mathematical physics, statistical physics, general relativity, quantum field theory, and elementary particle theory from 1950 onward. The order of the papers within the various sections is chronological and reflects the development of the fields during the second half of this century. In some cases, Thirring returned to problems decades later when the tools for their solution had ripened. Each section contains introductory comments by Thirring, outlining his motivation for the work at that time.
Principles of Quantum Electrodynamics concentrates on one of the best understood parts of quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics. It emphasizes the physical basis of the theory and avoids purely mathematical details. For this reason, the book should not be taken as a handbook of field theory, but rather as a compendium of the most characteristic and interesting results which have been obtained up to now. The book is organized into four parts. Part I develops the general mathematical framework, covering units and orders of magnitude, classical electrodynamics, and the general formalism of the quantum theory of fields. Part II deals with free fields. It examines some problems concerning the physical interpretation of the theory and asks whether the quantization procedure adopted actually introduces quantum characteristics and, if so, how these are expressed by the formalism. It also investigates the expectation values of more complicated expressions. Part III examines the effects of a mechanism which produces the particles under consideration; i.e., an external source of the fields. Part IV deals with quantum fields in interaction. The focus is on the case of a quantized electromagnetic field, the source of which is a quantized Dirac field.
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