Functional Evolution of Free Quantum Fields

The mathematical formalism for linear quantum field theory on curved spacetime depends in an essential way on the assumption of global hyperbolicity. Physically, what lie at the foundation of any formalism for quantization in curved spacetime are the canonical commutation relations, imposed on the field operators evaluated at a global Cauchy surface. In the algebraic formulation of linear quantum field theory, the canonical commutation relations are restated in terms of a wel...

We propose an algorithm of extracting Schr\"odinger theories under all viable physical time from the Einstein-Hilbert path integral, formulated as the timeless transition amplitudes $\hat{\mathbb{P}}:\mathbb{K} \to \mathbb{K}^*$ between the boundary states in a kinematic Hilbert space $\mathbb{K}$. Each of these Schr\"odinger theories refers to a certain set of quantum degrees of freedom in $\mathbb{K}$ as a background, with their given values specifying moments of the physic...

We develop a method for computing the Bogoliubov transformation experienced by a confined quantum scalar field in a globally hyperbolic spacetime, due to the changes in the geometry and/or the confining boundaries. The method constructs a basis of modes of the field associated to each Cauchy hypersurface, by means of an eigenvalue problem posed in the hypersurface. The Bogoliubov transformation between bases associated to different times can be computed through a differential...

We present a local framework for investigating non-unitary evolution groups pertinent to effective field theories in general semi-classical spacetimes. Our approach is based on a rigorous local stability analysis of the algebra of observables and solely employs geometric concepts in the functional representation of quantum field theory. In this representation, it is possible to construct infinitely many self-adjoint extensions of the canonical momentum field at the kinematic ...

It is shown that every algebraic quantum field theory has an underlying functorial field theory which is defined on a suitable globally hyperbolic Lorentzian bordism pseudo-category. This means that globally hyperbolic Lorentzian bordisms between Cauchy surfaces arise naturally in the context of algebraic quantum field theory. The underlying functorial field theory encodes the time evolution of the original theory, but not its spatially local structure. As an illustrative app...

A free quantum field in 1+1 dimensions admits unitary Schrodinger picture dynamics along any foliation of spacetime by Cauchy curves. Kuchar showed that the Schrodinger picture state vectors, viewed as functionals of spacelike embeddings, satisfy a functional Schrodinger equation in which the generators of time evolution are the scalar field energy-momentum densities with a particular normal-ordering and with a (non-unique) c-number contribution. The c-number contribution to ...

Goal of this review is to introduce the algebraic approach to quantum field theory on curved backgrounds. Based on a set of axioms, first written down by Haag and Kastler, this method consists of a two-step procedure. In the first one, a suitable algebra of observables is assigned to a physical system, which is meant to encode all algebraic relations among observables, such as commutation relations, while, in the second step, one must select an algebraic state in order to rec...

We argue that the conventional construction for quantum fields in curved spacetime has a grave drawback: It involves an uncountable set of physical field systems which are nonequivalent with respect to the Bogolubov transformations, and there is, in general, no canonical way for choosing a single system. Thus the construction does not result in a definite theory. The problem of ambiguity pertains equally both to quantum and classical fields. The canonical theory is advanced, ...

Parametrized field theory (PFT) is free field theory on flat spacetime in a diffeomorphism invariant disguise. It describes field evolution on arbitrary foliations of the flat spacetime instead of only the usual flat ones, by treating the `embedding variables' which describe the foliation as dynamical variables to be varied in the action in addition to the scalar field. A formal Dirac quantization turns the constraints of PFT into functional Schrodinger equations which descri...

We study the Fock quantization of scalar fields in (generically) time dependent scenarios, focusing on the case in which the field propagation occurs in --either a background or effective-- spacetime with spatial sections of flat compact topology. The discussion finds important applications in cosmology, like e.g. in the description of test Klein-Gordon fields and scalar perturbations in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime in the observationally favored flat case. Two types ...