Re: Books on QFT

[Daniel Schroeder <DSCHROEDER@CC.WEBER.EDU>]

> I'm looking for a good intro text in Quantum Field Theory. I'm considering two texts:
> - Lowell S. Brown, Quantum Field Theory, 1995
> - Lewis H. Ryder, Quantum Field Theory, 1996.
>
> Can someone give me some advice on these books?

Brown's book is rather advanced; I've never gotten much use
out of it myself but there are others who like it very much.
I've never heard anyone recommend it as an introduction.

I haven't seen Ryder's new edition.  His old edition was fine
for the more abstract parts of the subject but omitted all
discussion of observable quantities and experiments.  "Cross
section" wasn't even in the index.  If the new edition remedies
these gaps, then it could be quite good.

For an *introductory* book I recommend Mandl.  It's probably
the easiest book and it develops the basics of how Feynman
rules (and real-world calculations) come out of the theory.
It won't be long, though, before you'll want something that
goes further than Mandl, and at that point, in all honesty,
I must resort to recommending my own book, Peskin and Schroeder.

Best wishes,

Dan Schroeder
dschroeder@cc.weber.edu
http://physics.weber.edu/schroeder/