This page lists what was and will be covered in lectures, gives any reading assignments, and archives lecture notes and any additional handouts.
To bottom (most recent lectures)| Lecture | Date | Covered in lecture | Further Reading |
| 1.1 | 3/31 |
Class overview (v. brief) Introduction to lattice field theory Results we'll need from QFT (Euclidean path integrals) Notes 1 |
For more on Wick rotation, read page 1.9 of notes |
| 1.2 | 4/2 |
Quickly finish Notes 1 Begin lattice scalar field theory Notes 2 |
|
| 2.1 | 4/7 |
Finish free scalar propagator (Notes 2) Transfer matrix for scalar field theory Notes 3 |
|
| 2.2 | 4/9 |
Finish applications of transfer matrix (from Notes 3) Begin reflection positivity Notes 4 |
|
| 3.1 | 4/14 |
Complete reflection positivity (from notes 4)
Overview of upcoming triviality discussion |
|
| 3.2 | 4/16 |
Phase diagram of phi^4 theory in mean-field approximation
Notes 5 |
Read page 5.12: showing that the vev grows with the square root of (kappa-kappa_c). |
| 4.1 | 4/21 |
Hopping parameter expansion for phi^4 theory
Notes 6 |
|
| 4.2 | 4/23 |
Random walk approximation for propagator
Notes 7 Overview of what we have achieved so far (see Notes 8) |
|
| 5.1 | 4/28 |
Perturbation theory & renormalization for lattice phi^4 theory
Notes 8 |
|
| 5.2 | 4/30 |
RG scaling and triviality of phi^4 theory
Notes 9 |
|
| 6.1 | 5/5 |
Addendum to notes 9:
triviality in continuum PT
Lattice gauge theory: variables and action Notes 10 |
|
| 6.2 | 5/7 |
Order parameters for confinement
Notes 11 |
Read notes 11.8-11.9 for discussion of alternative order parameter for confinement at finite temp: Polyakov line. |
| 7.1 | 5/12 |
Addendum to lec. 11:
Elitzur's theorem and the Higgs phenomenon
Strong coupling expansion of pure gauge theory for Wilson loop Notes 12 |
|
| 7.2 | 5/14 |
Finish strong coupling expansion: glueball masses (from Notes 12)
Begin lattice perturbation theory for pure gauge theory, and the continuum limit Notes 13 |
|
| 8.1 | 5/19 | No class | |
| 8.2 | 5/21 | Finish lattice perturbation theory for pure gauge theory, and the continuum limit (from previous notes) | |
| 9.1 | 5/26 | Holiday | |
| 9.2 | 5/28 |
Lattice fermions and the doubling problem
Notes 14 |
|
| 10.1 | 6/2 |
Staggered and Wilson fermions
Notes 15 |
|
| 10.2 | 6/4 |
Exact chiral symmetry on the lattice:
Ginsparg-Wilson fermions
Notes 16 |
|
| 11.1 | 6/9 |
Spectrum of general Ginsparg-Wilson operator.
Overlap operator and its properties.
Notes 17 |