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QFT² (quite fun things about QFT) is a reading group on the physics, mathematics, and philosophy of QFT, started by myself and James Read in February 2025. In the 2025/26 academic year, we'll be meeting during term on a Friday from 16:30-18:00 UK time. The group is run in a hybrid format. Get in touch with me or James to be added to our mailing list and for the link to join online.

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A provisional schedule of topics and readings for the current term is below (subject to change). There is some expectation to do some of the reading in advance, but the aim of this group is to develop (collective) understanding - so if you just want to focus on one item/sub-topic or get stuck on something, that's totally fine and you'll probably be helping the rest of us out! Everyone is welcome to suggest topics, readings, or to present if they would like - get in touch with me or James.​​​ A provisional schedule of topics for future terms is at the bottom of this page.

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Michaelmas/Fall/Autumn 2025 - QFT meets black holes

 

Introduction and background​​

Week 1 (17th Oct.)

Kay (2025) - Quantum field theory in curved spacetime (2nd edition). doi:10.48550/arXiv.2308.14517

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The Unruh effect​

Week 2 (24th Oct.)

Earman (2011) - The Unruh effect for philosophers. doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2011.04.001

Requardt (2018) - The rigorous relation between Rindler and Minkowski quantum field theory in the Unruh scenario. doi:10.48550/arXiv.1804.09403

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The Hawking effect​​

Week 3 (31st Oct.)

Fredenhagen & Haag (1990) - On the derivation of Hawking radiation associated with the formation of a black hole. doi:10.1007/BF02096757​​

Week 4 (7th Nov.)

Kay & Wald (1991) - Theorems on the uniqueness and thermal properties of stationary, nonsingular, quasifree states on spacetimes with a bifurcate killing horizon. doi:10.1016/0370-1573(91)90015-E​

Week 5 (14th Nov.)

Sanders (2015) - On the construction of Hartle-Hawking-Israel states across a static bifurcate Killing horizon. doi:10.1007/s11005-015-0745-2
Jacobson (1994) - A note on the Hartle-Hawking vacuum. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.50.R6031

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Modular theory
Week 6 (21st Nov.)

Sorce (2023) - An intuitive construction of modular flow. doi:10.1007/JHEP12(2023)079

Week 7 (28th Nov.)

Summers & Verch (1996) - Modular inclusion, the Hawking temperature, and quantum field theory in curved spacetime. doi:10.1007/BF00416017

Week 8 (5th Dec.)

Kudler-Flam, Leutheusser, & Satishchandran (2025) - Generalized black hole entropy is von Neumann entropy. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.111.025013
 

Topic schedule for future terms

 

Michaelmas/Fall/Autumn 2025 (Oct. 17th-Dec. 5th): QFT meets black holes

Hilary/Winter 2026 (Jan. 9th-March 13th): Duncan's book on QFT

Trinity/Spring 2026 (April 3rd-June 5th): TBC

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  • Energy and energy conditions in QFT

  • Seiberg-Witten theory

  • BV/BFV formalism

  • Measurement in QFT

  • Spectrum conditions and the duality condition in QFT

  • Locality and non-locality in QFT

  • Causality in QFT

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© 2025 by Eleanor March

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