Prospectus

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Effective Field Theory

Course
2023-2024

Admission Requirements

Classical mechanics (Lagrangians, Hamiltonians etc), introductory quantum mechanics (QM 1 and 2 at B.Sc. level), Some knowledge of statistical physics and thermodynamics and relativistic electrodynamics is desirable.

Description

This course is a brief introduction to common concepts in classical field theory used throughout theoretical physics in cosmology, elementary particle and condensed matter physics.

Topics: * Fields as universal description of many body systems at low energies. * Symmetries and conservation laws. * Noether's theorem. * Renormalization and low energy effective theories. * States of matter and phase transitions.

Course objectives

A basic understanding of the topics listed above, including the ability to do computations of the most important effects.

Timetable

Physics Schedule
For detailed information go to Timetable in Brightspace

You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable (login). Any teaching activities that you have sucessfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.

MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).

For more information, watch the video or go the the 'help-page' in MyTimetable. Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different timetables into one. This video explains how to do this.

Mode of instruction

Zie Brightspace

Assessment method

To be discussed with the students. Most likely, a written exam supplemented by other means of evaluation

Reading list

  • K. Huang: Quantum Field Theory: From Operators to Path Integrals, Wiley

  • D. Tong’s Quantum Field Theory lecture notes

  • S. Coleman, Aspects of Symmetry, Cambridge University Press 1985

  • Detailed lecture notes to be provided

Registration

From the academic year 2022-2023 on every student has to register for courses with the new enrollment tool MyStudyMap. There are two registration periods per year: registration for the fall semester opens in July and registration for the spring semester opens in December. Please see this page for more information.

Please note that it is compulsory to both preregister and confirm your participation for every exam and retake. Not being registered for a course means that you are not allowed to participate in the final exam of the course. Confirming your exam participation is possible until ten days before the exam.

Extensive FAQ's on MyStudymap can be found here.

Contact

Lecturer: Dr. S.P. Patil

Remarks