Based on a course given at Chalmers Technical University in Goteborg,
Sweden, this text is intended for graduate students in physics and
related fields. It provides a self-contained treatment of the physics of
many-body systems from the point of view of condensed matter. The aim is
not to be exhaustive, but to present just enough detail to enable the
student to follow the current research literature. Many of the examples
are drawn from mesoscopic physics, a rapidly developing field that deals
with systems small enough that quantum coherence is maintained
throughout their volume, providing an ideal testing ground for many-body
theories. Problems at the end of each chapter help to guide learning an
to illustrate the applications of the formalism.