The previous lecture in this series is here.
In this mini-course we will give an introduction to quantum field theory in curved spacetime, one of the dominant research areas in modern algebraic quantum field theory. It is aimed at postgraduate students unfamiliar with the topic, although some preliminary knowledge of elementary differential geometry (notions of manifold, (co)tangent bundle, covariant derivative), as well as some familiarity with quantum mechanics and standard quantum field theory would be helpful.
The course will cover some of the underlying concepts of the algebraic approach to quantum field theory in curved spacetime and discuss several physically relevant examples. The focus will be on the linear (i.e., non-interacting) scalar field, favouring depth over breadth.
The topic for this lecture is:
- An introduction to Hadamard states.
This video is part of the London Mathematical Society‘s Online Graduate Lecture Series. These are supported by the LMS, and organized by AFQTUK (Algebraic Quantum Field Theory in the UK).