Gauge fields: an introduction to quantum theory/ L.D. Faddeev, A.A. Slavnov

Includes bibliography and index

This book is a compact, mathematically minded introduction to classical and quantum gauge field theory aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. The book develops the geometric and classical foundations of gauge fields, then introduces the path integral formulation and the quantization of non-Abelian (Yang–Mills) fields. It treats gauge fixing, the Faddeev–Popov procedure and ghosts, and shows how these ideas appear in perturbation theory and renormalization. Worked examples and formal derivations emphasize the connection between geometry and the quantum theory. The text closes with selected applications and pointers to more advanced topics, making it a useful bridge from classical field theory to the methods used in modern quantum field theory research.