Stephen L. Adler, Quantum Theory as an Emergent Phenomenon: The Statistical Mechanics of Matrix Models as the Precursor of Quantum Field Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2004), 283 pp., $50.00 (cloth).
In this review we study the elementary structure of Conformal Field Theory in which is a recipe for further studies of critical behavior of various systems in statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. We briefly review CFT in dimensions which plays a prominent role for example in the well-known duality AdS/CFT in string theory where the CFT lives on the AdS boundary. We also describe the mapping of the theory from the cylinder to a complex plane which will help us gain an insight into the process of radial quantization and radial ordering. Finally we will develop the representation of the Virasoro algebra which is the well-known "Verma module". Â
From the modern viewpoint and by the geometric method, this paper provides a concise foundation for the quantum theory of massless spin-3/2 field in Minkowski spacetime, which includes both the one-particle's quantum mechanics and the many-particle's quantum field theory. The explicit result presented here is useful for the investigation of spin-3/2 field in various circumstances such as supergravity, twistor programme, Casimir effect, and quantum inequality.
Abstract Dynamics of quantum field theory can be formulated by functional equations. To develop a complete functional quantum theory one has to describe the physical information by functional operations only. Such operations have been defined in preceding papers. To apply these operations to physical problems, the corresponding functionals have to be known. Therefore in this paper calculational procedures for functionals are discussed. As high energy phenomena are of interest, the calculational procedures are given for spinor field functionals. Especially a method for the calculation of stationary and Fermion-Fermion scattering functionals is proposed.
ON THE QUANTUM THEORY OF MASSLESS SPIN-3/2 FIELD IN MINKOWSKI SPACETIME