Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. Canonical Quantization and Particle Production: 1. Overview: a taste of quantum fields; 2. Reminder: Classical and quantum theory; 3. Driven harmonic oscillator; 4. From harmonic oscillators to fields; 5. Reminder: Classical fields; 6. Quantum fields in expanding universe; 7. Quantum fields in the de Sitter universe; 8. Unruh effect; 9. Hawking effect. Thermodynamics of black holes; 10. The Casimir effect; Part II. Path Integrals and Vacuum Polarization: 11. Path integrals; 12. Effective action; 13. Calculation of heat kernel; 14. Results from effective action; Appendices; Index.

Promotional Information

This book, first published in 2007, cover quantum field theory for undergraduates and graduates in theoretical astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and string theory.

About the Author

VIATCHESLAV MUKHANOV is Professor of Physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich. His main result is the theory of inflationary cosmological perturbations. Professor Mukhanov is author of Physical Foundations of Cosmology (Cambridge University Press 2005). He also serves on the editorial boards of leading research journals and is Scientific Director of the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP). SERGEI WINITZKI is Research Associate in the Department of Physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich. His main areas of research include quantum cosmology, the theory of dark energy, the global structure of spacetime, and quantum gravity.

Reviews

"... A groundbreaker in being an introductory text on quantum field theory in gravitational backgrounds, intended for undergraduate and beginning graduate students."
Lewis H. Ryder, Mathematical Reviews

"The treatment is clear throughout and the mathematical manipulations straightforward. This book is to be greatly recommended to anyone with an interest in contemporary theoretical cosmology; it is a most valuable contribution to the literature on the early universe."
Contemporary Physics