Introduction
Acknowledgements
Author biography
1 Interaction at a distance? Rather, the propagation of a field
1.1 Static fields perhaps well known
1.2 Time dependent fields perhaps less well known
1.2.1 Signals in spacetime
1.2.2 The four-vector potential
1.2.3 Waves
1.3 Bibliography
2 The messengers of the interactions: the 'quanta' of the field
2.1 The revenge of the integers
2.2 Quanta as particles
2.2.1 Photons
2.2.2 Zero mass for the photon
2.3 Quanta as waves
2.4 Two other, less familiar, fundamental fields and their quanta
2.5 Weak interactions
2.6 Strong interactions
2.7 Radiation fields: a collective name
2.8 Bibliography
3 Matter fields, of an uncommon self-avoiding kind
3.1 The need for new unusual anti-commuting numbers
3.2 Matter quanta. An interlude
3.2.1 Particles and antiparticles
3.2.2 Left or right spinning
3.2.3 The Dirac equation
3.2.4 The number of matter particles cannot change
3.3 Matter fields
……
4 Whatever is happening makes an action
5 The vacuum: the stage of the fields' play
6 The symmetric shape of the action
7 Everything fluctuates
8 The vacuum is not empty
9 What else?
10 QFT: what for?
Appendix: Notes for further insight
编辑手记