Mass-analytic quantization, uniform acceleration and black hole space-times

The notion of a 'natural' vacuum state, defined by the resolvent property of the Feynman propagator, is combined with that of observerdependent particle modes, based on the distinguished role of the Fermi coordinates associated with the observer's trajectory. If augmented by a minimal support property of the corresponding wavefunctions, these concepts provide an alternative derivation of the thermal radiation encountered by a uniformly accelerated detector in the Minkowski vacuum. In the case of the Kruskal manifold our approach yields a 'vacuum' state that is entirely different from those proposed by Boulware, Hartle and Hawking, and Unruh, respectively, the reason being the global character of our quantization prescription and its sensitivity with respect to the existence of a 'white hole' singularity. Indeed for a gravitational collapse starting from quasistatic initial conditions the Hawking effect is recovered. (Author)