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

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