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History 181B:  Modern Physics
Class 28 (3/21/01)
Quantum fields and particles
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Outline The quantum theory of fields (continued)

     Applying the quantization procedure to new sorts of variables
     Creation and annihilation operators

     Antiparticles, antimatter
          What these mean physically
          Consequences for the vacuum

     What QFT delivers
     "Second" quantization and fields without classical counterparts

What are QFTs good for?

     Quantum electrodynamics:  Heisenberg-Pauli (1929-30)
          Recovering Maxwellian electromagnetism
          Reconstructing force as exchange of particles

     QED as a model for other QFTs
Names and terms 
Primary Secondary
creation operator a*
annihilation operator a
positron = antielectron
hole
spontaneous pair creation
energy-time uncertainty relation		 number operator a*a
Copyright © Cathryn Carson 2001