This volume develops the techniques of perturbative QCD in great pedagogical detail starting with field theory. Aside from extensive treatments of the renormalization group technique, the operator product expansion formalism and their applications to short-distance reactions, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to gauge theories. Examples and exercises are provided to amplify the discussions on important topics. This is an ideal textbook on the subject of quantum chromodynamics and is essential for researchers and graduate students in high energy physics, nuclear physics and mathematical physics.

Contents:

• Introduction:
• General Survey
• Quarks and Color
• Need for Asymptotic Freedom
• Notation and Conventions
• Elements of Quantum Chromodynamics:
• Gauge Principle
• Quantization
• Feynman Rules
• Regularization
• Renormalization
• Renormalization Group Method:
• Renormalization Group
• Renormalization Group Equations
• Solution of the Renormalization Group Equations
• Asymptotic Freedom
• Anomalous Dimensions
• Operator Product Expansion:
• Operator Products
• Operator-Product Expansion in Perturbation Theory
• Coefficient Functions
• Physical Applications:
• Total Cross Section for e⁺e^– Annihilations
• Deep Inelastic Lepton-hadron Scatterings
• Renormalization-Scheme Dependence
• Jets
• Factorization and the Drell-Yan Process
• Infrared Divergence:
• One-loop Example
• Proof of the Soft-photon Cancellation in QED
• General Arguments for Infrared Cancellations

"The topics are discussed thoroughly and competently, and thus the book can well serve as background reading for a graduate course in quantum field theory."