Relativite, groupes et topologie II: Les Houches, session XL, 27 juin-4 aout 1983 = Relativity, groups, and topology II

Bryce S. DeWitt, R. Stora9780444868589, 0444868585

The courses which comprise this book were designed to give the student a broad perspective on modern quantum field theory. Among the topics covered are: – an account of the quantum theory of the Yang-Mills field, anomalies, monopoles and o-vacua; – an exposition of background field and Green’s function techniques applied to conservation laws, functional integration, curved backgrounds, nontrivial topologies and the effective action; – a description of supergravity and Kaluza-Klein theories; – supermanifolds, super Lie groups and super Hilbert spaces and theory of the topological and global aspects of quantum theory; – proofs of the positive energy theorems, and – accounts and analysis of episodes in the history of theoretical physics and quantum field theory.