The spirit of the present many-body theory lies down in quantum electrodynamics (QED), developed shortly after WWII by pioneers like Feynman, Schwinger, Tomonaga, and Dyson. Beginning with the fifties, the solid-state framework was laid down by Gell-Mann, Brueckner, Landau, Bardeen, Pines, Hubbard among many others. Yet, over half a century dust has not settled on some parts of the field. Additions/patches are appearing day by day, both at the front-end and the fundamental level.

Many-body theory has been applied to almost any branch of physics/astrophysics, and I shall mention some in our first meeting. This course should not be considered as a specialized field, but rather as the natural extension of quantum mechanics to many-particle quantum systems. Therefore, should be exposed to any (serious) physics student, no matter if the plans are to become an experimentalist, theorist, or computerist.

I plead to all students taking this course, not to be intimidated about the math involved. The text to be used is suitable for undergraduates and I shall follow a slow pace, trying to avoid any mysticism, well… hopefully.

Those students, still seeking for further motivation, or those planning to go for an MBA after graduation can take a look at this course's policy statement J