Instanton Physics (A Short Course) – Lecture: 02
The Black Hole presents a set of 8-10 lectures by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy that will introduce instanton methods in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. Applications to cosmology and condensed matter physics will be discussed. Participants should be familiar with quantum mechanics at the graduate level and with beginning level field theory.
There will be one 90 minute lecture every Sunday, 2:00pm-3:30pm. The minimum number of participants for the course is 4 and maximum is 8. To assure continuity participants are requested not to miss any lecture. As with all TBH programs, there is no fee.
Textbook: The Theory and Applications of Instanton Calculations by Manu Paranjape, Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Contents
Instantons in Particle QM
- Intro to path integral
- Instantons in a symmetric double well
- Decay of metastable states
- Calculating the functional determinant
Tunneling of Quantum Fields
- Basic QFT for a scalar field
- Tunneling of field configurations
- The O(4) instanton
- Gauge fields and tunneling
- Effective action
- How/when will our universe end?
Download slides for these lectures:
Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3, Lecture 4, Lecture 5, Lecture 6, Lecture 7