Review of relativity, covariant formalism. Oscillation fields and their quantization: phonons. Lagrangian formalism and Noether theorem. Klein Gordon field. Electromagnetic fields and potentials: photons and their quantization in the Coulomb gauge. Interaction of matter with e.m. fields: photon emission and absorption, scattering of light. Superfluidity, phonon spectrum and spontaneous symmetry breaking. Dirac’s equation for the electron, main consequences and its quantization.
M. Ciafaloni: notes on “Introduzione alla teoria dei campi”,
R. Casalbuoni, notes on Quantum Field Theory, available on web;
F. Mandl and G. Shaw, Quantum Field Theory (J. Wiley and sons);
L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Physique Statistique, Editions MIR
Learning Objectives
Knowledge acquired: Introductory treatment of quantum fields, like photons, phonons and particles
Competence acquired: Calculating probabilities of simple radiative processes
Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
Theoretical perturbative treatment of radiation – matter interactions
Prerequisites
Courses recommended: Courses on Quantum Mechanics (Laurea triennale on Physics and Astrophysics)
Teaching Methods
CFU: 9
Total hours of the course (including the time spent in attending lectures, seminars, private study, examinations, etc...): 150
Review of relativity, covariant formalism, Maxwell equation in covariant form. Oscillation fields and their quantization: phonons. Lagrangian formalism and Noether theorem. Quantization of Klein Gordon Field. Electromagnetic fields and potentials: photons and their quantization in the Coulomb gauge. Interaction of matter with e.m. fields: photon emission and absorption, scattering of light. Cherenkov effect.
Bose Einstein Condensation. Superfluidity, phonon spectrum, Landau Ginzburg model and spontaneous symmetry breaking (outline). Relativistic particles: Dirac’s equation for the electron, its main consequences and its quantization.