Dynamics of Classical and Quantum Fields

By Prof. Girish S. Setlur | IIT Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 443

About the course: This course covers introductory topics in Classical and Quantum Fields that are typically not given due importance in the M.Sc. coursework. There is a considerable knowledge gap between the present day M.Sc. level courses and actual PhD level research in theoretical physics. The contents of this course are carefully chosen to fill this gap and help aspiring/early stage PhD scholars come up to speed with research level topics in theoretical physics.

PRE-REQUISITES: Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Special Relativity,Statistical Mechanics.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: MSc. and beginning Ph.D students and other interested individuals.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Physics
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	25 Jul 2022
End Date :	14 Oct 2022
Enrollment Ends :	08 Aug 2022
Exam Date :	30 Oct 2022 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Review of Lagrangian mechanics and the Hamiltonian formulation.

Week 2: Symmetries and Noether’s theorem.

Week 3: The Electromagnetic Field and Stress Energy Tensor.

Week 4: Elasticity Theory and Fluid Mechanics.

Week 5: Toward Quantum Fields: Scalar and Spinor Fields.

Week 6: Concept of Functional Integration.

Week 7: Quantum Mechanics Using Lagrangians: Path Integrals.

Week 8: Creation and Annihilation Operators in Fock Space.

Week 9: Quantum Fields on a Lattice.

Week 10: Green Functions: Matsubara and Nonequilibrium.

Week 11: Coherent State Path Integrals.

Week 12: Non-local operators in Quantum Many Body Physics.

Books and references

1. Girish S. Setlur, Dynamics of Classical and Quantum fields: An Introduction. CRC Press (2013)

2. Itzykson C., Zuber J.B., Quantum Field Theory, Dover Publications (2012)

3. Peskin and Schroeder, Introduction to quantum field theory, Addison-Wesley (1995)

4. L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Classical Theory of Fields: Course of Theoretical Physics, vol.2 (4th edn.), Butterworth Heinemann (1975)

5. E. N. Economou, Green’s functions in Quantum Physics, Springer Series in Solid State Sciences – vol 7 (2006)

Instructor bio

Prof. Girish S. Setlur

IIT Guwahati

Prof. Girish S. Setlur works in the field of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics. He is interested in understanding and accounting for the properties of everyday bulk materials from a knowledge of the fundamental constituents of the substance and the fundamental physical laws governing those constituents. He was the inventor of a new technique called 'non-chiral bosonization' which is uniquely suited to study strongly inhomogeneous Luttinger liquids. He also invented the notion of a non-local particle hole creation operator and showed that it may be used to diagonalize interacting Fermi systems in any dimension. He is also interested in topological materials, specifically their nonlinear optical properties.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: 30 October 2022 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.

Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team