Quantum Field Theory I

Quantum field theory is where quantum mechanics and special relativity finally fit together, treating particles as excitations of underlying fields rather than as standalone objects — this first semester builds that machinery from the ground up, starting with Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations and working toward the canonical quantization of free fields. You'll spend most of your time on five problem sets grinding through Lorentz group representations, spinor algebra, and Noether currents, with two midterms and a final checking that the formalism actually sticks. It's the gateway course for anything in high-energy or theoretical physics — Maggiore is the textbook, and QFT II picks up where this leaves off with interactions, renormalization, and the diagrams that make QED predictive.