This book is especially addressed to young researchers in theoretical physics with a basic background in Field Theory and Condensed Matter Physics. The topics were chosen so as to offer the largest possible overlap between the two expertises, selecting a few key problems in Condensed Matter Theory which have been recently revisited within a field-theoretic approach. The presentation of the material is aimed not only at providing the reader with an overview of this exciting frontier area of modern theoretical physics, but also at elucidating most of the tools needed for a technical comprehen sion of the many papers appearing in current issues of physics journals and, hopefully, to enable the reader to tackle research problems in this area of physics. This makes the material a live creature: while not pretending it to be exhaustive, it is tutorial enough to be useful to young researchers as a starting point in anyone of the topics covered in the book. 1 Introduction.- 2 Fermi Liquids and Luttinger Liquids.- 3 Quantum Number Fractionalization in Antiferromagnets.- 4 Conformal Field Theory Approach to Quantum Impurity Problems.- 5 Quantum Magnetism Approaches to Strongly Correlated Electrons.- 6 Introduction to Some Common Topics in Gauge Theory and Spin Systems.- 7 Quantum Chaos and Transport in Mesoscopic Systems.
If you are a researcher in theoretical physics with a background in field theory and condensed matter physics, you will find this book a delight. It contains what a good book should offer: the right insight presented by person with taste for relevance...In my opinion, even if one knows the subject, it pays to have a look at the book since one can find the personal touch of people who made major contributions to the subject.
-Vladimir Rittenberg
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Melbourne
