Quantum Field Theory I

Quantum mechanics breaks down once you take relativity and particle creation seriously, and QFT is the framework that replaces it: fields, not particles, are the fundamental objects, and the particles you observe are quantized excitations of those fields. Building on the relativistic quantum mechanics from PHYS 325, you'll work through the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations, Lorentz and Poincaré representations, Noether's theorem, and finally canonical quantization of free scalar fields, with five problem sets that force you to actually do the index gymnastics rather than just watch it. This is the entry point to everything modern in high-energy and condensed matter theory — the Standard Model, gauge theories, and renormalization all start here, and a follow-up QFT II typically picks up where this course leaves off with interactions and Feynman diagrams.