This book presents an introductory account of the field of perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) developed during the past decade as a major field of study for physicists working in elementary particle physics. It has significant applications in other sub-fields of physics, including heavy ion collisions, cosmology, and relativistic astrophysics.

Giving an accurate account of the concepts, theorems and their justification, this book is a systematic treatment of perturbative QCD. It relates the concepts to experimental data, giving strong motivations for the methods. Ideal for graduate students starting their work in high-energy physics, it will also interest experienced researchers.

This book consists of a collection of carefully selected review papers and lecture notes written by the author on Perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (PQCD) and its experimental tests. A leading authority who has contributed significantly to the development of PQCD for more than 20 years, the author has selected articles on the basis of their present interest. These articles cover different aspects of the subject without unnecessary duplication and are accompanied by commentaries. Also, original material, specially written for this book, has been added to integrate and update the results and their presentation. Hence, more than providing a historical perspective on the subject, this volume also serves well as an authoritative guidebook on Perturbative QCD.

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.