Published April 15, 2008
| Version v1
Journal article
Microcausality in curved space-time
- 1. Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect, 7a, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation)
- 2. Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)
- 3. Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)
Description
It is well known that in Lorentz-invariant quantum field theories in flat space the commutator of spacelike separated local operators vanishes (microcausality). We provide two different arguments showing that this is a consequence of the causal structure of the classical theory, rather than of Lorentz invariance. In particular, microcausality holds in arbitrary curved space-times, where Lorentz invariance is explicitly broken by the background metric. As illustrated by an explicit calculation on a cylinder this property is rather nontrivial at the level of Feynman diagrams.
Additional details
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.77.084016;
- arXiv
- arXiv:0709.1483v1;
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
- Journal Volume
- 77
- Journal Issue
- 8
- Journal Page Range
- p. 084016-084016.12
- ISSN
- 0556-2821
- CODEN
- PRVDAQ
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 41001359
- Subject category
- S72: PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS;
- Descriptors DEI
- CYLINDERS; FEYNMAN DIAGRAM; LORENTZ INVARIANCE; QUANTUM FIELD THEORY; SPACE-TIME
- Descriptors DEC
- DIAGRAMS; FIELD THEORIES; INFORMATION; INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
Optional Information
- Notes
- (c) 2008 The American Physical Society