Perturbative algebraic quantum field theory: an introduction for mathematicians

Perturbative Algebraic Quantum Field Theory (pAQFT), the subject of this book, is a complete and mathematically rigorous treatment of perturbative quantum field theory (pQFT) that doesn’t require the use of divergent quantities. We discuss in detail the examples of scalar fields and gauge theories and generalize them to QFT on curved spacetimes. pQFT models describe a wide range of physical phenomena and have remarkable agreement with experimental results. Despite this success, the theory suffers from many conceptual problems. pAQFT is a good candidate to solve many, if not all of these conceptual problems. Chapters 1-3 provide some background in mathematics and physics. Chapter 4 concerns classical theory of the scalar field, which is subsequently quantized in chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7 covers gauge theory and chapter 8 discusses QFT on curved spacetimes and effective quantum gravity. The book aims to be accessible researchers and graduate students interested in the mathematical foundations of pQFT are the intended audience.