Field Theory

Lecture 1
In these lectures I will build up the concept of field theory using the language of Feynman diagrams. As a starting point, field theory in zero spacetime dimensions is used as a vehicle to develop all the necessary techniques: path integral, Feynman diagrams, Schwinger-Dyson equations, asymptotic series, effective action, renormalization etc. The theory is then extended to more dimensions, with emphasis on the combinatorial aspects of the diagrams rather than their particular mathematical structure. The concept of unitarity is used to, finally, arrive at the various Feynman rules in an actual, four-dimensional theory. The concept of gauge-invariance is developed, and the structure of a non-abelian gauge theory is discussed, again on the level of Feynman diagrams and Feynman rules.