Chapter Page
Preface ix
Prologue: The greatest monument and a road map for a quest 1
I Our physical world 15
Preview of part I 15
1. Matter and the forces that move it 17
2. The rise of the classical field 22
3. Time unified with space 34
4. The geometry of spacetime 47
5. The rise and fall and rise of particles 56
Recap of part I 65
II The road to quantum field theory 67
Preview of part II 67
1. Getting the best deal: from least time to extremal action 69
2. Global versus local 80
3. Enter the quantum 84
Recap of part II 99
III Becoming a quantum field theorist 101
Preview of part III 101
1. How to become a quantum field theorist (almost) instantly 103
2. Origin of forces: range and exchange 112
3. Attraction or repulsion: a mysterious but all important sign 123
Recap of part III 135
IV A universe of fields 137
Preview of part IV 137
1. Everybody is a field: Dirac set the electron free 139
2. Theore...tical physics, like music, starts with harmony but then tries to move on 149
3. Quantum electrodynamics, perturbation theory, and cultural taboos 162
4. The road to gauge theory 173
Recap of part IV 181
A well-deserved rest 183
V Quantum field theory and the four fundamental interactions 185
Preview of part V 185
1. Antimatter! 187
2. Too strong and too mean but ultimately free 192
3. The weak and the electroweak interactions 211
Addendum to chapter V.3 239
4. Grand unification 243
5. Gravity and curved spacetime 261
6. Quantum gravity: The Holy Grail of theoretical physics? 279
Recap of part V 295
VI Quantum field theory is more intellectually complete than quantum mechanics 297
Preview of part VI 297
1. A question of identity 299
2. Exclusion, inclusion, and quantum statistics 312
3. Intellectual completeness 324
Recap of part VI 329
Parting comments and some unsolicited advice 331
Timeline 345
A short list of mathematical symbols 347
Bibliography 351
Index 353
Zee, A. [Àú]
A. Zee is professor of physics and a permanent member of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His books include "Fearful Symmetry: The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics" (Princeton).