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So, I am a medical physics student with a long term goal of learning QFT. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to take courses that would build up to QFT. I have taken the time to search for many textbooks on QFT, all of which require much more mathematical and physical knowledge than I have at the moment. My background is: Calc 1-3 and DiffEQ, Linear Algebra, Freshman Physics, Electromagnetism (ala Griffiths) and Quantum Mechanics (also ala Griffiths).

I am planning on reading Merzbacher and Sakurai MQM, and then Sakurai AQM. Will this be enough to prepare me for Peskin? I have taken the time to read through many different questions on the subject, and I have come to the conclusion that none of them address my needs. I suspect there are many people who will also be interested in such a self-contained study "path" to QFT, instead of merely asking for one textbook to rule them all. And many of these people are at the point I am now, having just finished regular QM ala Griffiths. I am hoping for the smoothest path to QFT. Each textbook should not assume more knowledge than contained in the last ones.

David Z
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SSD
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  • ACuriousMind and Qmechanic I have looked at the thread in question many times over, and it is a completely different question. Why is it that you have closed my question in light of this fact? It's obvious to anyone who reads through both questions. – SSD Dec 27 '15 at 14:16
  • To clarify: are you asking for a book which covers the quantum mechanics that one should know as a prerequisite for studying quantum field theory? We already have many questions on QM books, some of which are linked here. – David Z Dec 27 '15 at 14:27
  • Hi SSD. Welcome to Phys.SE. Phys.SE only allows a limited number of prerequisite and study advice questions, because they tend to be e.g. primarily opinion-based. I'm closing this a duplicate, not because it is an exact duplicate, but to point in the right direction. – Qmechanic Dec 27 '15 at 15:15
  • DavidZ, I am asking for specific textbooks that as a sequence provide a smooth and spoon fed path from Griffith's Quantum Mechanics to Peskin. If such a question were answered, there would essentially be no reason for anyone to ask anything similar again, because they could simply refer newbies to the answer and they'd have a complete progression of textbooks they could use. I know what books exist for QM, but I don't know which ones are suitable to string together into a progression as I've described. – SSD Dec 27 '15 at 15:58
  • Qmechanic, does there exist a place to ask opinion based questions? I'm not certain its fair to close my question because questions similar exist. If answers to my specific question don't exist, I don't see why we can't leave it open to see who answers it. Maybe we will achieve good results and others in my situation can benefit from it instead of endlessly being referred to unhelpful threads. – SSD Dec 27 '15 at 16:00
  • @SSD There is a book called Student Friendly Quantum Field Theory which is relatively new and designed for what you are asking, but it is not easy! As far as I know, QFT is still too new of a field to really provide a nice and easy transition from the other subjects in physics. You are going to need a lot of patience and determination to get through QFT. Asking to be spoon fed is like asking someone to carry you up a mountain. I would strongly consider whether you have the adequate amount of interest to make it worth your struggle. You sound like you're asking for a walk in the park. – Marcus Quinn Rodriguez Tenes Dec 27 '15 at 18:24
  • @SSD There is no canonical, established way of teaching the subject. Realize that we've only just started to verify things like the Higgs actually exist. You are stepping into deep water. Remember most people don't even really understand QM, they just use it. The Standard Model is still very new, as are many of the techniques of QFT. – Marcus Quinn Rodriguez Tenes Dec 27 '15 at 18:36
  • @SSD This list is exactly what you're looking for. – knzhou Jan 07 '16 at 16:07

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