Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and Related Topics

This book describes Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, starting from the free field equations for spin-zero particles and for spin-one-half particles, leading to the Klein–Gordon equation and Dirac equations. Interactions of these particles with the electromagnetic field through minimal coupling are introduced as well as other interactions between particles. It includes the calculation of the fundamental processes of Quantum Electrodynamics by means of Feynman's propagator theory, which allows for a proper treatment of diverse scattering and particle creation processes. In addition to this, a number of special topics are discussed, such as spontaneous symmetry breaking, the global and local cases, the Higgs mechanism, axion–photon interactions using techniques borrowed from scalar QED, pair creation in a strong external electric field, the two-dimensional representation of the Klein–Gordon propagator, bound states in the Greens functions approach, and the Breit equation for bound states. Also, the photon–electron interactions are treated in the context of a symmetric treatment within electrons and photons for eg. Compton scattering, pair creation and pair annihilation. Finally, non-abelian gauge theories, the Glashow–Weinberg–Salam model, some electroweak processes, and Feynman diagrams are also discussed.