In a spacetime with no global timelike Killing vector, we do not have a natural choice for the vacuum state of matter fields, leading to an ambiguity in defining the Feynman propagators. In this paper, taking the vacuum state to be the instantaneous ground state of the Hamiltonian at each moment, we develop a method for calculating wave functions associated with the vacuum and the corresponding in-in and in-out propagators. We apply this method to free scalar field theory in de Sitter space and obtain de Sitter invariant propagators in various coordinate patches. We show that the in-out propagator in the Poincare patch has a finite massless limit in a de Sitter invariant form. We argue and numerically check that our in-out propagators agree with those obtained by a path integral with the standard iεprescription, and identify the condition on a foliation of spacetime under which such coincidence can happen for the foliation. We also show that the in-out propagators satisfy Polyakov's composition law. Several applications of our framework are also discussed.
We construct a de Sitter invariant photon propagator in general covariant gauges. Our result is a natural generalization of the Allen-Jacobson photon propagator in Feynman gauge. Our propagator reproduces the correct response to a point static charge and the one-loop electromagnetic stress-energy tensor, strongly suggesting that it is suitable for perturbative calculations on de Sitter.
We construct the graviton propagator on de Sitter background in exact de Donder gauge. We prove that it must break de Sitter invariance, just like the propagator of the massless, minimally coupled scalar. Our explicit solutions for its two scalar structure functions preserve spatial homogeneity and isotropy so that the propagator can be used within the larger context of inflationary cosmology, however, it is simple to alter the residual symmetry. Because our gauge condition is de Sitter invariant (although no solution for the propagator can be) renormalization should be simpler using this prop…
We formulate the graviton propagator on de Sitter background in a 2-parameter family of simple gauges which break de Sitter invariance. Explicit results are derived for the first order perturbations in each parameter. These results should be useful in computations to check for gauge dependence of graviton loop corrections.
We consider the covariant graviton propagator in de Sitter spacetime in a gauge with two parameters, alpha and beta, in the Euclidean approach. We give an explicit form of the propagator with a particular choice of beta but with arbitrary value of alpha. We confirm that two-point functions of local gauge-invariant quantities do not increase as the separation of the two points becomes large.
We consider time-ordered (or Feynman) propagators between two different $α-$states of a linear de Sitter Quantum Field in the global de Sitter manifold and in the Poincaré patch. We separately examine $α-β$, In-In and In-Out propagators and find the imaginary contribution to the effective actions. The In-In propagators are real in both the Poincaré patch and in the global de Sitter manifold. On the other side the In-Out propagators at coincident points contain finite imaginary contributions in both patches in even dimensions, but they are not equivalent. In odd dimensions in both patches the i…
The propagators of the Faddeev-Popov (FP) ghosts for Yang-Mills theories and perturbative quantum gravity in the covariant gauge are infrared (IR) divergent in de Sitter spacetime. We point out, however, that the modes responsible for these divergences will not contribute to loop diagrams in computations of time-ordered products in either Yang-Mills theories or perturbative quantum gravity. Therefore we propose that the IR divergent FP-ghost propagator should be regularized by a small mass term that is sent to zero in the end of any perturbative calculations. This proposal is equivalent to usi…
We compute 1-loop corrections to Lorentz-signature de Sitter-invariant 2-point functions defined by the interacting Euclidean vacuum for massive scalar quantum fields with cubic and quartic interactions. Our results apply to all masses for which the free Euclidean de Sitter vacuum is well-defined, including values in both the complimentary and the principal series of SO(D,1). In dimensions where the interactions are renormalizeable we provide absolutely convergent integral representations of the corrections. These representations suffice to analytically extract the leading behavior of the 2-po…
We explicitly work out the de Sitter breaking contributions to the recent solution for the de Donder gauge graviton propagator on de Sitter. We also provide explicit power series expansions for the two structure functions, which are suitable for implementing dimensional regularization. And we evaluate the coincidence limit of the propagator.
We construct explicit mode expansions of various tree-level propagators in the Rindler -- de Sitter universe, also known as the static (or compact) patch of the de Sitter spacetime. We construct in particular the Wightman functions for thermal states having a generic temperature $T$. We give a fresh simple proof that the only thermal Wightman propagator that respects the de Sitter isometry is the restriction to the Rindler -- de Sitter wedge of the propagator for the Bunch--Davies state. It is the thermal state with $T = (2 π)^{-1}$ in the units of de Sitter curvature. We show that propagators…
We compute the Pauli-Jordan, Hadamard and Feynman propagators for the massive metrical perturbations on de Sitter space. They are expressed both in terms of mode sums and in invariant forms.
We construct the gauge invariant part of the propagator for the massless gravitino in AdS(d+1) by coupling it to a conserved current. We also derive the propagator for the massive gravitino.
Two different systems of the generalized coherent states for the de Sitter group are constructed. These systems have the physical sense of particles and antiparticles over de Sitter space and obeys the Klein-Gordon equation. Using these systems the de Sitter-invariant propagators for massive spin~0 and~1/2 fields over de Sitter space are constructed.
The propagators for the Faddeev-Popov (FP) ghosts in Yang-Mills theory and perturbative gravity in the covariant gauge are infrared (IR) divergent in de Sitter spacetime. An IR cutoff in the momentum space to regularize these divergences breaks the de Sitter invariance. These IR divergences are due to the spatially constant modes in the Yang-Mills case and the modes proportional to the Killing vectors in the case of perturbative gravity. It has been proposed that these IR divergences can be removed, with the de Sitter invariance preserved, by first regularizing them with an additional mass ter…
Using properly defined Feynman propagator we obtain non--zero imaginary contribution to the scalar field effective action in even dimensional de Sitter space. Such a propagator follows from the path integral in de Sitter space and obeys composition principle proposed in arXiv:0709.2899. The obtained expression for the effective action shows particle production with the Gibbons--Hawking rate.
We study the dynamics of Majorana fermions in an expanding de Sitter space and to that aim we construct the vacuum Feynman propagator for Majorana fermions in de Sitter space. Surprisingly, the Majorana propagator is identical to that of the Dirac fermions. We then use this propagator and calculate the one-loop effective action for Majorana fermions, and show that it differs from that of Dirac fermions by a factor of 1/2, which accounts for the reduced number of degrees of freedom of the Majorana particle. Finally, we derive the Majorana and Dirac propagators for mixing fermionic flavors, whic…
We demonstrate that certain gauge fixing functionals cannot be added to the action on backgrounds such as de Sitter in which a linearization instability is present. We also construct the field dependent gauge transformation which carries the electromagnetic vector potential from a convenient, non-de Sitter invariant gauge to the de Sitter invariant, Lorentz gauge. The transformed propagator agrees with the de Sitter invariant result previously found by solving the propagator equation in Lorentz gauge. This shows that the gauge transformation technique will eliminate unphysical breaking of de S…
I argue against the widespread notion that manifest de Sitter invariance on the full de Sitter manifold is either useful or even attainable in gauge theories. Green's functions and propagators computed in a de Sitter invariant gauge are generally more complicated than in some noninvariant gauges. What is worse, solving the gauge-fixed field equations in a de Sitter invariant gauge generally leads to violations of the original, gauge invariant field equations. The most interesting free quantum field theories possess no normalizable, de Sitter invariant states. This precludes the existence of de…
Graviton propagator diverges in certain gauges in de Sitter spacetime. We address this problem in this work by generalizing the infinitesimal BRST transformations in de Sitter spacetime to finite field-dependent BRST (FFBRST) transformations. These FFBRST transformations are symmetry of the classical action, but do not leave path integral measure invariant for the graviton theory in de Sitter spacetime. Due to the non-trivial Jacobian of such finite transformation the path integral measure changes and hence FFBRST transformation is capable of relating theories in two different gauges. We expli…
With the help of the general theory of the Heun equation, this paper completes previous work by the authors and other groups on the explicit representation of the massive gravitino propagator in four-dimensional de Sitter space. As a result of our original contribution, all weight functions which multiply the geometric invariants in the gravitino propagator are expressed through Heun functions, and the resulting plots are displayed and discussed after resorting to a suitable truncation in the series expansion of the Heun function. It turns out that there exist two ranges of values of the indep…
Using an exact expression for the bi-spinor of parallel transport, we construct the Feynman propagator for Dirac fermions in the vacuum state on anti-de Sitter space-time. We compute the vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor by removing coincidence-limit divergences using the Hadamard method. We then use the vacuum Feynman propagator to compute thermal expectation values at finite temperature. We end with a discussion of rigidly rotating thermal states.
In this master thesis a configuration space method presented by C. Dullemond and E. van Beveren for computing all propagators of a scalar field (Wightman, Hadamard and Schwinger functions,retarded, advanced and Feynman propagator) is reviewed for four-dimensional Minkowski and Anti de Sitter spacetime AdS_4. This method is then applied for AdS_d as well as de Sitter spacetime dS_d of arbitrary dimension d, obtaining results in agreement with the literature. The advantages of the method are that it needs neither mode summation nor analytic continuation from euclidean time, while delivering the …
Just because the propagator of some field obeys a de Sitter invariant equation does not mean it possesses a de Sitter invariant solution. The classic example is the propagator of a massless, minimally coupled scalar. We show that the same thing happens for massive scalars with $M_S^2 < 0$, and for massive transverse vectors with $M_V^2 \leq -2 (D-1) H^2$, where $D$ is the dimension of spacetime and $H$ is the Hubble parameter. Although all masses in these ranges give infrared divergent mode sums, using dimensional regularization (or any other analytic continuation technique) to define the mode…
We show that the propagators of gravitons and scalar fields seen by a static patch observer in de Sitter spacetime are controlled by hidden SL(2,R) symmetries, at all frequencies. The retarded Green's function is determined by an SL(2,R) x SL(2,R) action generated by conformal Killing vectors of de Sitter spacetime times a line. This observation uses the fact that the static patch of dS_{d+1} x R is conformal to the hyperbolic patch of AdS_3 x S^{d-1}. The poles of the propagators, the quasinormal frequencies, are generated by associated SL(2,R) actions. The quasinormal mode generating algebra…
A system of generalized coherent states for the de Sitter group obeying the Klein-Gordon equation and corresponding to the massive spin zero particles over the de Sitter space is considered. This allows us to construct the quantized scalar field by the resolution over these coherent states; the corresponding propagator is computed by the method of analytic continuation to the complex de Sitter space and coincides with expressions obtained previously by other methods. Considering the case of spin 1/2 we establish the connection of the invariant Dirac equation over the de Sitter space with irred…
We derive the propagator for a massive vector field on a de Sitter background of arbitrary dimension. This propagator is de Sitter invariant and possesses the proper flat spacetime and massless limits. Moreover, the retarded Green's function inferred from it produces the correct classical response to a test source. Our result is expressed in a tensor basis which is convenient for performing quantum field theory computations using dimensional regularization.
A nice paper by Morrison demonstrates the recent convergence of opinion that has taken place concerning the graviton propagator on de Sitter background. We here discuss the few points which remain under dispute. First, the inevitable decay of tachyonic scalars really does result in their 2-point functions breaking de Sitter invariance. This is obscured by analytic continuation techniques which produce formal solutions to the propagator equation that are not propagators. Second, Morrison's de Sitter invariant solution for the spin two sector of the graviton propagator involves derivatives of th…
We compute the linearized Weyl-Weyl correlator using a new solution for the graviton propagator on de Sitter background in de Donder gauge. The result agrees exactly with a previous computation in a noncovariant gauge. We also use dimensional regularization to compute the one loop expectation value of the square of the Weyl tensor.
A system of generalized coherent states for the de Sitter group obeying Klein-Gordon equation and corresponding to the massive spin zero particles over the de Sitter space is considered. This allows us to construct the quantized scalar field by the resolution over these coherent states; the corresponding propagator can be computed by the method of analytic continuation to the complexified de Sitter space and coincides with expressions obtained previously by other methods. We show that this propagator possess the de Sitter-invariance and causality properties.
We consider the wave equation on asymptotically Minkowski spacetimes and the Klein-Gordon equation on even asymptotically de Sitter spaces. In both cases we show that the extreme difference of propagators (i.e. retarded propagator minus advanced, or Feynman minus anti-Feynman), defined as Fredholm inverses, induces a symplectic form on the space of solutions with wave front set confined to the radial sets. Furthermore, we construct isomorphisms between the solution spaces and symplectic spaces of asymptotic data. As an application of this result we obtain distinguished Hadamard two-point funct…
Connection of the invariant Dirac equation over the de Sitter space with irreducible representations of the de Sitter group is ascertained. The set of solutions of this equation is obtained in the form of the product of two different systems of generalized coherent states for the de Sitter group. Using these solutions the quantized Dirac field over de Sitter space is constructed and its propagator is found. It is a result of action of some de Sitter invariant spinor operator onto the spin zero propagator with an imaginary shift of a mass.
We present the graviton propagator for an infinite derivative, $D$-dimensional, non-local action, up to quadratic order in curvature around a Minkowski background, and discuss the conditions required for this class of gravity theory to be ghost-free. We then study the gravitational entropy for de-Sitter and Anti-de Sitter backgrounds, before comparing with a recently derived result for a Schwarzschild blackhole, generalised to arbitrary $D$-dimensions, whereby the entropy is given simply by the area law. A novel approach of decomposing the entropy into its $(r, t)$ and spherical components is …
We evaluate the one-graviton loop contribution to the vacuum polarization on de Sitter background in a 1-parameter family of exact, de Sitter invariant gauges. Our result is computed using dimensional regularization and fully renormalized with BPHZ counterterms, which must include a noninvariant owing to the time-ordered interactions. Because the graviton propagator engenders a physical breaking of de Sitter invariance two structure functions are needed to express the result. In addition to its relevance for the gauge issue this is the first time a covariant gauge graviton propagator has been …
We find explicitly the induced graviton propagator on de Sitter branes embedded in various five-dimensional spacetimes; de Sitter branes in AdS and Minkowski space are particular cases. By studying the structure of the momentum-space propagator, we are able to extract interesting physics, much of which is qualitatively different from that of flat branes. We find that 1) there can be a set of graviton-like particles which mediate brane gravity at different scales; 2) localized gravity can exist even on de Sitter branes in Minkowski space; 3) Kaluza-Klein modes also contribute to conventional 4-…
We obtain a scale-invariant spectrum from the Lee-Wick model in de Sitter spacetime. This model is a fourth-order scalar theory whose mass parameter is determined by $M^2=2H^2$. The Harrison-Zel'dovich scale-invariant spectrum is obtained by Fourier transforming the propagator in position space as well as by computing the power spectrum directly. It shows clearly that the LW scalar theory provides a truly scale-invariant spectrum in whole de Sitter, while the massless scalar propagation in de Sitter shows a scale-invariant spectrum in the superhorizon region only.
Out-of-time-ordered Correlators in de Sitter Revisited
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky（肯塔基大学物理与天文学系）；Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem（耶路撒冷希伯来大学拉卡物理研究所）；ORFE Department, Princeton University（普林斯顿大学运筹工程金融系）；Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara（加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校物理系）
It is well known that in de Sitter space the (free) minimally coupled massless scalar field theory does not admit any de Sitter-invariant Hadamard state. Related to this is the fact that the propagator for the massive scalar field corresponding to the de Sitter-invariant vacuum state diverges in the massless limit, with the infrared-divergent term being a constant. Since the Faddeev-Popov ghosts for the covariantly quantized Yang-Mills theory are minimally coupled massless scalar fields, it might appear that de Sitter symmetry would be broken in the ghost sector of Yang-Mills theory in de Sitt…
We study details of geometry of noncommutative de Sitter space: we determine the Riemann and Ricci curvature tensors, the energy and the Laplacian. We find, in particular, that fuzzy de Sitter space is an Einstein space, $R_{ab}=-3ζ\,η_{ab}$. The Laplacian, defined in the noncommutative frame formalism, is not hermitian and gives nonunitary evolution. When symmetrically ordered, it has the usual quadratic form $Δ=Π_aΠ^a$ (when acting on functions in representation space, $Ψ\in {\cal H}$): we find its eigenstates and discuss its spectrum. This result is a first step in a study of the scalar fie…
We find the propagator and calculate the tree level scattering amplitude between two covariantly conserved sources in an Anti-de Sitter background for the most general D-dimensional quadratic, four-derivative, gravity with a Pauli-Fierz mass. We also calculate the Newtonian potential for various limits of the theory in flat space. We show how the recently introduced three dimensional New Massive Gravity is uniquely singled out among higher derivative models as a (tree level) unitary model and that its Newtonian limit is equivalent to that of the usual massive gravity in flat space.
A class of invariant states under de Sitter isometries is constructed in d-dimensional Conformal Field Theories from the universal sector of AdS/CFT dualities. These states extend the Mottola-Allen $α$-vacua to theories containing scalar primary operators of arbitrary scaling dimensions, and are proven to explicitly break conformal symmetry. Two-point correlators in these states are shown to satisfy a generalized spectral decomposition in terms of free massive propagators. It is also pointed out that the spectral decomposition of generic Euclidean correlators is known in the mathematics litera…
Interacting massive fields with m > d H/2 in d+1 dimensional de Sitter space are fundamentally unstable. Scalar fields in this mass range can decay to themselves. This process (which is kinematically forbidden in Minkowski space) can lead to an important change to the propagator and the physics of these fields. We compute this decay rate by doing a 1-loop computation for a massive scalar field with a cubic interaction. We resum the 1-loop result by consistently solving the Schwinger-Dyson equations. We also perform an explicit resummation of all chain graphs in the case of the retarded propaga…
Properties of Green's functions may be derived in either first or second quantisation. We illustrate this with a factorisation property for propagators in arbitrary spacetimes, and apply it to scalar fields in AdS space.
The mode solutions of the Dirac equation on $N$-dimensional de Sitter space-time ($dS_{N}$) with $(N-1)$-sphere spatial sections are obtained by analytically continuing the spinor eigenfunctions of the Dirac operator on the $N$-sphere ($S^{N}$). The analogs of flat space-time positive frequency modes are identified and a vacuum is defined. The transformation properties of the mode solutions under the de Sitter group double cover (Spin($N$,1)) are studied. We reproduce the expression for the massless spinor Wightman two-point function in closed form using the mode-sum method. By using this clos…
The usual (Bunch-Davies) Feynman propagator of a massless field is not well defined in an expanding universe due to the presence of infrared divergences. We propose a new propagator which yields infrared finite answers to any correlation function. The key point is that in a de Sitter spacetime there is an ambiguity in the zero-mode of the propagator. This ambiguity can be used to cancel the apparent divergences which arise in some loop calculations in eternally (or semi-eternally) inflating spacetime. We refer to this process as zero-mode modification. The residual ambiguity is fixed by observ…
We consider a quantum scalar field with λϕ^4 interaction in curved spacetimes. The quantum effects are taken into account nonperturbatively using the Hartree approximation to the 2PI effective action. Although this approximation has been considered in many previous works, we reconsider it using a consistent nonperturbative renormalization procedure, which we extend to general curved spacetimes. We obtain the renormalized equations for the mean field and for the propagator of the fluctuations, showing explicitly their independence on the arbitrary scale introduced by the regularization scheme. …
Using the natural extension of the notion of the generalized coherent states the scalar and spinor ones for the de Sitter group SO(4,1) are constructed. These systems of coherent states obey the de Sitter--invariant Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations and correspond to the massive spin~0 and~1/2 particles over de Sitter space. These coherent states are used for the construction of the invariant scalar and spinor propagators over de Sitter space.
The goal of the present note is to understand whether it is possible to define interacting quantum field theory in global anti de Sitter space-time with Lorentzian signature, in its covering space-time (whose time coordinate is not periodic) and in its Poincare patch. We show that in global anti de Sitter space-time there are certain problems to define quantum field theory properly. This is due to an additional UV singularity of the Feynman propagator which is sitting on the light-cone emanating from the antipodal point of the source. There is no such singularity in flat space-time. At the sam…
Propagator positivity bounds for cosmological correlators
Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, National Taiwan University（国立台湾大学梁中心宇宙学与粒子天体物理学）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London（伦敦玛丽女王大学物理与天文系）
From Cosmological Cuts to Yang--Mills Wavefunctions in de Sitter Space
New Cornerstone Laboratory, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（新Cornerstone实验室，中国科学院理论物理研究所）；Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam（阿姆斯特丹大学物理研究所）
We present a simple group representation analysis of massive, and particularly ``partially massless'', fields of arbitrary spin in de Sitter spaces of any dimension. The method uses bulk to boundary propagators to relate these fields to Euclidean conformal ones at one dimension lower. These results are then used to revisit an old question: can a consistent de Sitter supergravity be constructed, at least within its intrinsic horizon?
