Preface
Acknowledgements
Author biography
1 Basic field theory
Newtonian mechanics and Galilean relativity
The action principle
The stretched string as a field theory
The wave equation
Energy and momentum in field theories
Point sources and Green's functions in field theory
Further reading
2 Newtonian fluid dynamics
Fluid flow from Newtonian physics
Basic applications of the Navier-Stokes equation
Viscosity
The action formulation of perfect fluids
Fluctuations around solutions and stability
Further reading
3 Special relativity,field theory and symmetry
Special relativity
Basic effects of special relativity
Relativistic mechanics
Relativistic tensor fields and quadratic actions
Relativistic spinor fields and quadratic actions
Symmetry in relativistic field theory
Further reading
4 Classical electrodynamics
Maxwell's equations
The gauge field and gauge conditions
The gauge field action and minimal coupling
The stress-energy tensor and electrodynamic force and energy
Electromagnetic waves and spin
Green's functions and electromagnetic radiation
The gauge field as a differential form
Further reading
5 General relativity and gravitation
The metric tensor and the principle of equivalence
The affine connection and the covariant derivative
The curvature tensor
Variational techniques in general relativity
Einstein's equation
Vacuum solutions to Einstein's equation
Basic cosmology
Further reading
6 Yang-Mills fields and connections
Unitary symmetry and Yang-Mills fields
The Yang-Mills stress-energy tensor and force equation
Spontaneous breakdown of symmetry
Aspects of classical solutions for Yang-Mills fields
Yang-Mills fields,gravitation,forms and connections
Yang-Mills fields and Confinement
Further reading
Appendix:Mathematics for field theory
编辑手记