by Jørgen Rammer, Cambridge University Press. Hardback ISBN 9780521874991 £45 ($85). E-book format ISBN 9780511292620, $68.
This textbook presents quantum field theoretical applications to systems out of equilibrium. It introduces the real-time approach to non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and the quantum field theory of non-equilibrium states in general. It offers two ways of learning how to study non-equilibrium states of many-body systems: the mathematical canonical way and an intuitive way using Feynman diagrams. The latter provides an easy introduction to the powerful functional methods of field theory, and the use of Feynman diagrams to study classical stochastic dynamics is considered in detail. The developed real-time technique is applied to study numerous phenomena in many-body systems, and there are numerous exercises to aid self-study.
