Quantum Theory Of Many Particle Systems

Self-contained treatment of nonrelativistic many-particle systems discusses both formalism and applications in terms of ground-state (zero-temperature) formalism, finite-temperature formalism, canonical transformations, and applications to physical systems. 1971 edition.

This book explains the fundamental concepts and theoretical techniques used to understand the properties of quantum systems having large numbers of degrees of freedom. A number of complimentary approaches are developed, including perturbation theory; nonperturbative approximations based on functional integrals; general arguments based on order parameters, symmetry, and Fermi liquid theory; and stochastic methods.

The quantum theory of many-particle systems has applications in various branches of physics including condensed matter, atomic, molecular, nuclear and high-energy. An understanding of this theory is therefore important to most students of physics and Many-Particle Theory is an excellent introduction to the subject. Many-Particle Theory presents a detailed and logical account of the theory and techniques used. Basic subjects such as Green's functions and Feynman diagrams are discussed in detail, and many examples and applications are given, such as the Hartee-Fock approximation, superconductivity and the Kondo problem. Due to the detailed derivations and the fact that only a grasp of basic quantum mechanics is assumed, the book is an ideal textbook for graduate students and teachers of physics. The comprehensive bibliography contains many recent books and articles for further studies. Many-Particle Theory is a translation of the second German edition, which is an expanded version of the popular first edition. All three authors, E K U Gross, E Runge and O Heinonen, are well respected researchers in the field.

Condensed matter systems where interactions are strong are inherently difficult to analyze theoretically. The situation is particularly interesting in low-dimensional systems, where quantum fluctuations play a crucial role. Here, the development of non-perturbative methods and the study of integrable field theory have facilitated the understanding of the behavior of many quasi one- and two-dimensional strongly correlated systems. In view of the same rapid development that has taken place for both experimental and numerical techniques, as well as the emergence of novel testing-grounds such as cold atoms or graphene, the current understanding of strongly correlated condensed matter systems differs quite considerably from standard textbook presentations. The present volume of lecture notes aims to fill this gap in the literature by providing a collection of authoritative tutorial reviews, covering such topics as quantum phase transitions of antiferromagnets and cuprate-based high-temperature superconductors, electronic liquid crystal phases, graphene physics, dynamical mean field theory applied to strongly correlated systems, transport through quantum dots, quantum information perspectives on many-body physics, frustrated magnetism, statistical mechanics of classical and quantum computational complexity, and integrable methods in statistical field theory. As both graduate-level text and authoritative reference on this topic, this book will benefit newcomers and more experienced researchers in this field alike.