A spatial variant of the Functional Renormalization Group (FRG) is introduced on (Lorentzian signature) globally hyperbolic spacetimes. Through its perturbative expansion it is argued that such a FRG must inevitably be state dependent and that it should be based on a Hadamard state. A concrete implementation is presented for scalar quantum fields on flat Friedmann-Lemaître spacetimes. The universal ultraviolet behavior of Hadamard states allows the flow to be matched to the one-loop renormalized flow (where strict removal of the ultraviolet cutoff requires a tower of potentials, one for each power of the Ricci scalar). The state-dependent infrared behavior of the flow is investigated for States of Low Energy, which are Hadamard states deemed to be viable vacua for a pre-inflationary period. A simple time-dependent infrared fixed point equation (resembling that in Minkowski space) arises for any scale factor, with analytically computable corrections coding the non-perturbative ramifications of the Hadamard property in the infrared.
We review a few rigorous and partly unpublished results on the regularisation of the stress-energy in quantum field theory on curved spacetimes: 1) the symmetry of the Hadamard/Seeley-DeWitt coefficients in smooth Riemannian and Lorentzian spacetimes 2) the equivalence of the local $ζ$-function and the Hadamard-point-splitting procedure in smooth static spacetimes 3) the equivalence of the DeWitt-Schwinger- and the Hadamard-point-splitting procedure in smooth Riemannian and Lorentzian spacetimes.
We develop a quantization scheme for the vector potential on globally hyperbolic spacetimes which realizes it as a locally covariant conformal quantum field theory. This result allows us to employ on a large class of backgrounds, which are asymptotically flat at null infinity, a bulk-to-boundary correspondence procedure in order to identify for the underlying field algebra a distinguished ground state which is of Hadamard form.
Some years ago, Radzikowski has found a characterization of Hadamard states for scalar quantum fields on a four-dimensional globally hyperbolic spacetime in terms of a specific form of the wavefront set of their two-point functions (termed `wavefront set spectrum condition'), thereby initiating a major progress in the understanding of Hadamard states and the further development of quantum field theory in curved spacetime. In the present work, we extend this important result on the equivalence of the wavefront set spectrum condition with the Hadamard condition from scalar fields to vector field…
We construct a state in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime which is invariant under the action of its group of symmetries. Our state is not defined in the whole Kruskal extension of this spacetime, but rather in a subset of the maximally extended conformal diagram. The construction is based on a careful use of the bulk-to-boundary technique. We will show that our state is Hadamard and that it is not a KMS state, differently from the case of states constructed in spacetimes containing only one event horizon.
In this Thesis we will explicitly construct Hadamard states with different features. In the two first cases, the states will be constructed in static and in cosmological spacetimes. In one of the cases, the states will be constructed in such a way as to minimize the expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor of a free massive scalar field, multiplied by a suitable smooth function of compact support, in a cosmological spacetime. The final form of the state clearly reduces to the vacuum in a static spacetime. Besides, we will show that these are Hadamard states. They do not contradict the a…
We develop the Hadamard renormalization of the stress-energy tensor for a massive scalar field theory defined on a general spacetime of arbitrary dimension. Our formalism could be helpful in treating some aspects of the quantum physics of extra spatial dimensions. More precisely, for spacetime dimension up to six, we explicitly describe the Hadamard renormalization procedure and for spacetime dimension from seven to eleven, we provide the framework permitting the interested reader to perform this procedure explicitly in a given spacetime. We complete our study (i) by considering the ambiguitie…
We give a rigorous definition of the Unruh state in the setting of massless Dirac fields on slowly rotating Kerr spacetimes. In the black hole exterior region, we show that it is asymptotically thermal at Hawking temperature on the past event horizon. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in the union of the exterior and interior regions, the Unruh state is pure and Hadamard. The main ingredients are the Häfner-Nicolas scattering theory, new microlocal estimates for characteristic Cauchy problems and criteria on the level of square-integrable solutions.
We give an introduction to the techniques from microlocal analysis that have successfully been applied in the investigation of Hadamard states of free quantum field theories on curved spacetimes. The calculation of the wave front set of the two point function of the free Klein-Gordon field in a Hadamard state is reviewed, and the polarization set of a Hadamard two point function of the free Dirac field on a curved spacetime is calculated.
We consider the massive Klein-Gordon equation on a class of asymptotically static spacetimes (in the long range sense) with Cauchy surface of bounded geometry. We prove the existence and Hadamard property of the in and out states constructed by scattering theory methods.
The Hadamard representation of the Green's function of a quantum field on a curved space-time is a powerful tool for computations of renormalized expectation values. We study the Hadamard form of the Feynman Green's function for a massive charged complex scalar field in an arbitrary number of space-time dimensions. Explicit expressions for the coefficients in the Hadamard parametrix are given for two, three and four space-time dimensions. We then develop the formalism for the Hadamard renormalization of the expectation values of the scalar field condensate, current and stress-energy tensor. Th…
Quasifree states of a linear Klein-Gordon quantum field on globally hyperbolic spacetime manifolds are considered. Using techniques from the theory of pseudodifferential operators and wavefront sets on manifolds a criterion for a state to be an Hadamard state is developed. It is shown that ground- and KMS-states on certain static spacetimes and adiabatic vacuum states on Robertson-Walker spaces are Hadamard states. Finally, the problem of constructing Hadamard states on arbitrary curved spacetimes is solved in principle.
In a recent paper, we proved that a large class of spacetimes, not necessarily homogeneous or isotropous and relevant at a cosmological level, possesses a preferred codimension one submanifold, i.e., the past cosmological horizon, on which it is possible to encode the information of a scalar field theory living in the bulk. Such bulk-to-boundary reconstruction procedure entails the identification of a preferred quasifree algebraic state for the bulk theory, enjoying remarkable properties concerning invariance under isometries (if any) of the bulk and energy positivity, and reducing to well-kno…
We investigate linearized gauge theories on globally hyperbolic spacetimes in the BRST formalism. A consistent definition of the classical phase space and of its Cauchy surface analogue is proposed. We prove that it is isomorphic to the phase space in the subsidiary condition approach of Hack and Schenkel in the case of Maxwell, Yang-Mills, and Rarita-Schwinger fields. Defining Hadamard states in the BRST formalism in a standard way, their existence in the Maxwell and Yang-Mills case is concluded from known results in the subsidiary condition (or Gupta-Bleuler) formalism. Within our framework,…
We conjecture that (when the notion of Hadamard state is suitably adapted) there is no isometry-invariant Hadamard state for the massive or massless covariant Klein-Gordon equation defined on the region of the Kruskal spacetime to the left of a surface of constant Schwarzschild radius in the right Schwarzschild wedge when Dirichlet boundary conditions are put on that surface. We also prove that, with a suitable definition for 'boost-invariant Hadamard state' (which we call 'strongly boost-invariant globally-Hadamard') which takes into account both the existence of the timelike boundary and the…
This paper continues the analysis of the quantum states determined by the universal asymptotic structure of four-dimensional asymptotically flat vacuum spacetimes at null infinity M. It is now focused on the quantum state lambda_M, of a massles conformally coupled scalar field phi propagating in M. lambda_M is ``holographically'' induced in the bulk by the universal BMS-invariant state lambda at infinity scri of M. It is done by means of the correspondence between observables in the bulk and those on the boundary at null infinity discussed in previous papers. The induction is possible when som…
In the setting of asymptotically Anti-de Sitter spacetimes, we consider Klein-Gordon fields subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions, with mass satisfying the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound. We introduce a condition on the b-wave front set of two-point functions of quantum fields, which locally in the bulk amounts to the usual Hadamard condition, and which moreover allows to estimate wave front sets for the holographically induced theory on the boundary. We prove the existence of two-point functions satisfying this condition, and show their uniqueness modulo terms that have smooth Schwartz kerne…
In the celebrated Unruh effect, we learn that a uniformly accelerating detector in a Minkowski vacuum spacetime registers a constant temperature. Building on prior work, we present a technique based on derivative couplings of the two-point Wightman function and the Hadamard renormalization procedure to define an instantaneous temperature for a massive scalar field, non-minimally coupled to gravity. We find the temperature contains local contributions from the acceleration of the detector, the curvature of spacetime, and the renormalized stress-energy tensor of the field. Our result, which can …
The Hadamard renormalization procedure is applied to a free, massive Dirac field $ψ$ on a 2 dimensional Lorentzian spacetime. This yields the state-independent divergent terms in the Hadamard bispinor $G^{(1)}(x, x') = \frac{1}{2} \left\langle \left[ \barψ(x'), ψ(x) \right] \right\rangle$ as $x$ and $x'$ are brought together along the unique geodesic connecting them. Subtracting these divergent terms within the limit assigns $G^{(1)}(x, x')$, and thus any operator expressed in terms of it, a finite value at the coincident point $x' = x$. In this limit, one obtains a quadratic operator instead …
The discovery of the radiation properties of black holes prompted the search for a natural candidate quantum ground state for a massless scalar field theory on Schwarzschild spacetime, here considered in the Eddington-Finkelstein representation. Among the several available proposals in the literature, an important physical role is played by the so-called Unruh state which is supposed to be appropriate to capture the physics of a black hole formed by spherically symmetric collapsing matter. Within this respect, we shall consider a massless Klein-Gordon field and we shall rigorously and globally…
In a recent paper (Phys. Rev. D 94, 125016 (2016)), the authors argued that the singularities of the two-point functions on the Poincaré domain of the $n$-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime ($\text{PAdS}_n$) have the Hadamard form, regardless of which (Robin) boundary condition is chosen at the conformal boundary. However, the argument used to prove this statement was based on an incorrect expression for the two-point function $G^{+}(x,x')$, which was obtained by demanding $\text{AdS}$ invariance for the vacuum state. In this comment I show that their argument works only for Dirichlet and Ne…
In this work we define a new state on the Weyl algebra of the free massive scalar Klein-Gordon field on a Robertson-Walker spacetime and prove that it is a Hadamard state. The state is supposed to approximate a thermal equilibrium state on a Robertson-Walker spacetime and we call it an adiabatic KMS state. This opens the possibility to do quantum statistical mechanics on Robertson-Walker spacetimes in the algebraic framework and the analysis of the free Bose gas on Robertson-Walker spacetimes. The state reduces to an adiabatic vacuum state if the temperature is zero and it reduces to the usual…
The Hadamard renormalization prescription is used to derive a two dimensional analog of the renormalized stress tensor for a minimally coupled scalar field in Schwarzschild-de Sitter space time. In the two dimensional analog the minimal coupling reduces to the conformal coupling and the stress tensor is found to be determined by the (nonlocal) contribution of the anomalous trace and some additional parameters in close relation to the work [1]. To properly relate the stress tensor to the state of outwards signals coming from the direction of the black hole at late times we propose a cut-off hyp…
This book provides a rather self-contained survey of the construction of Hadamard states for scalar field theories in a large class of notable spacetimes, possessing a (conformal) light-like boundary. The first two sections focus on explaining a few introductory aspects of this topic and on providing the relevant geometric background material. The notions of asymptotically flat spacetimes and of expanding universes with a cosmological horizon are analysed in detail, devoting special attention to the characterization of asymptotic symmetries. In the central part of the book, the quantization of…
We show that a free Dirac quantum field on a globally hyperbolic spacetime has the following structural properties: (a) any two quasifree Hadamard states on the algebra of free Dirac fields are locally quasiequivalent; (b) the split-property holds in the representation of any quasifree Hadamard state; (c) if the underlying spacetime is static, then the nuclearity condition is satisfied, that is, the free energy associated with a finitely extended subsystem (``box'') has a linear dependence on the volume of the box and goes like $\propto T^{s+1}$ for large temperatures $T$, where $s+1$ is the n…
We analyze the implications of the microlocal spectrum/Hadamard condition for states in a (linear) quantum field theory on a globally hyperbolic spacetime $M$ in the context of a (distributional) initial value formulation. More specifically, we work in a $3+1$-split $M\cong\mathbb{R}\timesΣ$ and give a bound, independent of the spacetime metric, on the wave front sets of the initial data for a quasi-free Hadamard state in the quantum field theory defined by a normally hyperbolic differential operator $P$ acting in a vector bundle $E\stackrelπ{\rightarrow}M$. This aims at a possible way to appl…
Worldline quantum inequalities provide lower bounds on weighted averages of the renormalised energy density of a quantum field along the worldline of an observer. In the context of real, linear scalar field theory on an arbitrary globally hyperbolic spacetime, we establish a worldline quantum inequality on the normal ordered energy density, valid for arbitrary smooth timelike trajectories of the observer, arbitrary smooth compactly supported weight functions and arbitrary Hadamard quantum states. Normal ordering is performed relative to an arbitrary choice of Hadamard reference state. The ineq…
We discuss Stueckelberg massive electromagnetism on an arbitrary four-dimensional curved spacetime (gauge invariance of the classical theory and covariant quantization, wave equations for the massive spin-1 field $A_μ$, for the auxiliary Stueckelberg scalar field $Φ$ and for the ghost fields $C$ and $C^\ast$, Ward identities, Hadamard representation of the various Feynman propagators and covariant Taylor series expansions of the corresponding coefficients). This permits us to construct, for a Hadamard quantum state, the expectation value of the renormalized stress-energy tensor associated with…
Free field theories on a four dimensional, globally hyperbolic spacetime, whose dynamics is ruled by a Green hyperbolic partial differential operator, can be quantized following the algebraic approach. It consists of a two-step procedure: In the first part one identifies the observables of the underlying physical system collecting them in a *-algebra which encodes their relational and structural properties. In the second step one must identify a quantum state, that is a positive, normalized linear functional on the *-algebra out of which one recovers the interpretation proper of quantum mechan…
We define the renormalization group flow for a renormalizable interacting quantum field in curved spacetime via its behavior under scaling of the spacetime metric, $\g \to λ^2 \g$. We consider explicitly the case of a scalar field, $ϕ$, with a self-interaction of the form $κϕ^4$, although our results should generalize straightforwardly to other renormalizable theories. We construct the interacting field--as well as its Wick powers and their time-ordered-products--as formal power series in the algebra generated by the Wick powers and time-ordered-products of the free field, and we determine the…
We discuss the quantization of linearized gravity on globally hyperbolic, asymptotically flat, vacuum spacetimes and the construction of distinguished states which are both of Hadamard form and invariant under the action of all bulk isometries. The procedure, we follow, consists of looking for a realization of the observables of the theory as a sub-algebra of an auxiliary, non-dynamical algebra constructed on future null infinity $\Im^+$. The applicability of this scheme is tantamount to proving that a solution of the equations of motion for linearized gravity can be extended smoothly to $\Im^…
First, the present work is concerned with generalising constructions and results in quantum field theory on curved spacetimes from the well-known case of the Klein-Gordon field to Dirac fields. To this end, the enlarged algebra of observables of the Dirac field is constructed in the algebraic framework. This algebra contains normal-ordered Wick polynomials in particular, and an extended analysis of one of its elements, the stress-energy tensor, is performed. Based on detailed calculations of the Hadamard coefficients of the Dirac field, it is found that a construction of a stress-energy tensor…
A configuration space version of BPHZ renormalization is proved in the realm of perturbative algebraic quantum field theory. All arguments are formulated entirely in configuration space so that the range of application is extended to analytic spacetimes. Further the relation to the momentum space method is established. In the course of that, it is necessary to study the limit of constant coupling.
Building on an insight due to Avramidi, we provide a system of transport equations for determining key fundamental bi-tensors, including derivatives of the world-function, σ(x,x'), the square root of the Van Vleck determinant, Δ^{1/2}(x,x'), and the tail-term, V(x,x'), appearing in the Hadamard form of the Green function. These bi-tensors are central to a broad range of problems from radiation reaction to quantum field theory in curved spacetime and quantum gravity. Their transport equations may be used either in a semi-recursive approach to determining their covariant Taylor series expansions…
By considering Hadamard vacuum states, we first construct the two-point functions associated with Stueckelberg massive electromagnetism in de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes. Then, from the general formalism developed in [A. Belokogne and A. Folacci, Phys. Rev. D \textbf{93}, 044063 (2016)], we obtain an exact analytical expression for the vacuum expectation value of the renormalized stress-energy tensor of the massive vector field propagating in these maximally symmetric spacetimes.
We prove that, under the standard conformal scaling, a massless field in de Sitter spacetime admits an O(4)-invariant Fock quantization such that time evolution is unitarily implemented. This result disproves previous claims in the literature. We discuss the relationship between this quantization with unitary dynamics and the family of O(4)-invariant Hadamard states given by Allen and Folacci, as well as with the Bunch-Davies vacuum.
In this article we review the quantization of the Dirac-field on a curved spacetime. For that purpose we describe the construction of the local observable algebras in the algebraic approach to quantum field theory. Among the possible states we single out the so called Hadamard-states, which are the ones relevant for physics. Finally, as an example, we give a definition for an adiabatic vacuum state of the Dirac-field on a Robertson-Walker spacetime. We believe that these states are physical in the sense that they have the singularity structure of Hadamard-form, although we cannot give a formal…
We obtain the electric field and scalar field for a static point charge in closed form in the 5D Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole spacetime. We then compute the static self-force in each of these cases by assuming that the appropriate singular field is a 4D Hadamard Green's function on the constant time Riemannian slice. It is well known that the Hadamard Green's function involves an arbitrary regular biscalar $W_{0}(x,x')$, whose coincidence limit $w(x)$ appears in the expression for the self-force. We develop an axiomatic approach to reduce this arbitrary function to a single arbitrary d…
We construct a black-hole spacetime which includes the running of the gravitational coupling in a self-consistent way. Starting from a classical Schwarzschild black hole, the backreaction effects produced by the running Newton's coupling are taken into account iteratively. The sequence, described by a simple recurrence relation, flows towards a self-consistent solution that can be derived analytically. As a key result, if the gravitational renormalization group flow attains a non-trivial fixed point at high energies, the sequence converges to a "renormalized" black-hole spacetime of the Dymnik…
We discuss the algebraic quantization of a real, massive scalar field in the Poincaré patch of the (d+1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, with arbitrary boundary conditions. By using the functional formalism, we show that it is always possible to associate to such system an algebra of observables enjoying the standard properties of causality, time-slice axiom and F-locality. In addition, we characterize the wavefront set of the ground state associated to the system under investigation. As a consequence, we are able to generalize the definition of Hadamard states and construct a global alg…
We point out that the duality symmetry of free electromagnetism does not hold in the quantum theory if an arbitrary classical gravitational background is present. The symmetry breaks in the process of renormalization, as also happens with conformal invariance. We show that a similar duality-anomaly appears for a massless scalar field in $1+1$ dimensions.
The covariant and gauge invariant calculation of the current expectation value in the homogeneous electric field in 1+3 dimensional de Sitter spacetime is shown. The result accords with previous work obtained by using adiabatic subtraction scheme. We therefore conclude the counterintuitive behaviors of the current in the infrared (IR) regime such as IR hyperconductivity and negative current are not artifacts of the renormalization scheme, but are real IR effects of the spacetime.
We propose to slightly generalize the DeWitt-Schwinger adiabatic renormalization subtractions in curved space to include an arbitrary renormalization mass scale $μ$. The new predicted running for the gravitational couplings are fully consistent with decoupling of heavy massive fields. This is a somewhat improvement with respect to the more standard treatment of minimal (DeWitt-Schwinger) subtractions via dimensional regularization. We also show how the vacuum metamorphosis model emerges from the running couplings.
I consider certain renormalization effects in curved spacetime quantum field theory. In the very early universe these effects resemble those of a cosmological constant, while in the present universe they give rise to a significant finite renormalization of the gravitational constant. The relevant renormalization term and its relation to elementary particle masses was first found by Parker and Toms in 1985, as a consequence of the ``new partially summed form'' of the propagator in curved spacetime. The significance of the term is based on the contribution of massive particles to the vacuum. In …
We calculate the one-loop divergences for different vector field models in curved spacetime. We introduce a classification scheme based on their degeneracy structure, which encompasses the well-known models of the non-degenerate vector field, the Abelian gauge field and the Proca field. The renormalization of the generalized Proca model, which has important applications in cosmology, is more complicated. By extending standard heat-kernel techniques, we derive a closed form expression for the one-loop divergences of the generalized Proca model.
We consider a theory of $N$ self-interacting quantum scalar fields with quartic $O(N)$-symmetric potential, with a coupling constant $λ$, in a generic curved spacetime. We analyze the renormalization process of the Semiclassical Einstein Equations at leading order in the $1/N$ expansion for different renormailzation schemes, namely: the traditional one that sets the geometry of the spacetime to be Minkowski at the renormalization point, and new schemes (originally proposed in [1,2]) which set the geometry to be that of a fixed de Sitter spacetime. In particular, we study the quantum backreacti…
Using the method of covariant symbols we compute the divergent part of the effective action of the Proca field with non-minimal mass term. Specifically a quantum Abelian vector field with a non-derivative coupling to an external tensor field in curved spacetime in four dimensions is considered. Relatively explicit expressions are obtained which are manifestly local but non polynomial in the external fields. Our result is shown to reproduce existing ones in all particular cases considered. Internal consistency with Weyl invariance is also verified.
