Polarized vector bosons on the de Sitter expanding universe

The quantum theory of the vector field minimally coupled to the gravity of the de Sitter spacetime is built in a canonical manner starting with a new complete set of quantum modes of given momentum and helicity derived in the moving chart of conformal time. It is shown that the canonical quantization leads to new vector propagators which satisfy similar equations as the propagators derived by Tsamis and Woodard (J Math Phys 48:052306, 2007) but having a different structure. The one-particle operators are also written down pointing out that their properties are similar with those found already in the quantum theory of the scalar, Dirac and Maxwell free fields.     

On the uniqueness of the Dirac theory in curved and flat spacetime

In this work a number of examples are used to illustrate uniqueness of physical prediction of the Dirac theory in a curved and a flat spacetime. Dirac Hamiltonians in arbitrary, including time‐dependent, gravitational fields uniquely determine physical characteristics of quantum‐mechanical systems irrespective of the choice of the tetrad fields. Direct spin‐rotation coupling that occurs with a certain choice of tetrads does not manifest itself in final physical characteristics of the systems and therefore does not represent a physically relevant effect.     

A non‐uniqueness problem of the Dirac theory in a curved spacetime

The Dirac equation in a curved spacetime depends on a field of coefficients (essentially the Dirac matrices), for which a continuum of different choices are possible. We study the conditions under which a change of the coefficient fields leads to an equivalent Hamiltonian operator H, or to an equivalent energy operator E. We do that for the standard version of the gravitational Dirac equation, and for two alternative equations based on the tensor representation of the Dirac fields. The latter equations may be defined when the spacetime is four‐dimensional, noncompact, and admits a spinor structure. We find that, for each among the three versions of the equation, the vast majority of the possible coefficient changes do not lead to an equivalent operator H, nor to an equivalent operator E, whence a lack of uniqueness. In particular, we prove that the Dirac energy spectrum is not unique. This non‐uniqueness of the energy spectrum comes from an effect of the choice of coefficients, and applies in any given coordinates.     

Maximal symmetry and mass generation of Dirac fermions and gravitational gauge field theory in six-dimensional spacetime

The relativistic Dirac equation in four-dimensional spacetime reveals a coherent relation between the dimensions of spacetime and the degrees of freedom of fermionic spinors. A massless Dirac fermion generates new symmetries corresponding to chirality spin and charge spin as well as conformal scaling transformations. With the introduction of intrinsic W-parity, a massless Dirac fermion can be treated as a Majorana-type or Weyl-type spinor in a six-dimensional spacetime that reflects the intrinsic quantum numbers of chirality spin. A generalized Dirac equation is obtained in the six-dimensional spacetime with a maximal symmetry. Based on the framework of gravitational quantum field theory proposed in Ref. [1] with the postulate of gauge invariance and coordinate independence, we arrive at a maximally symmetric gravitational gauge field theory for the massless Dirac fermion in six-dimensional spacetime. Such a theory is governed by the local spin gauge symmetry SP(1,5) and the global Poincar′e symmetry P(1,5)= SO(1,5) P~(1,5) as well as the charge spin gauge symmetry SU(2). The theory leads to the prediction of doubly electrically charged bosons. A scalar field and conformal scaling gauge field are introduced to maintain both global and local conformal scaling symmetries. A generalized gravitational Dirac equation for the massless Dirac fermion is derived in the six-dimensional spacetime. The equations of motion for gauge fields are obtained with conserved currents in the presence of gravitational effects. The dynamics of the gauge-type gravifield as a Goldstone-like boson is shown to be governed by a conserved energy-momentum tensor, and its symmetric part provides a generalized Einstein equation of gravity. An alternative geometrical symmetry breaking mechanism for the mass generation of Dirac fermions is demonstrated.     

Spinor Matter in a Gravitational Field: Covariant Equations à la Heisenberg

A fundamental tenet of general relativity is geodesic motion of point particles. For extended objects, however, tidal forces make the trajectories deviate from geodesic form. In fact Mathisson, Papapetrou, and others have found that even in the limit of very small size there exists a residual curvature-spin force. Another important physical case is that of field theory. Here the ray (WKB) approximation may be used to obtain the equation of motion. In this article I consider an alternative procedure, the proper time translation operator formalism, to obtain the covariant Heisenberg equations for the quantum velocity, momentum, and angular momentum operators for the case of spinor fields. I review the flat spacetime results for Dirac particles in Yang-Mills fields, where we recover the Lorentz force. For curved spacetime I find that the geodesic equation is modified by an additional term involving the spin tensor, and the parallel transport equation for the momentum is modified by an additional term involving the curvature tensor. This curvature term is the Lorentz force of the gravitational field. The main result of this article is that these equations are exactly the (symmetrized) Mathisson-Papapetrou equations for the quantum operators. Extension of these results to the case of spin-one fields may be possible by use of the KDP formalism.     

Constraining chameleon field driven warm inflation with Planck 2018 data

The European Physical Journal C - We study the Yukawa model with one scalar and one axial scalar fields, coupled to N copies of Dirac fermions, in curved spacetime background. The theory possesses...     

A gauge theory of CPT transformations to first order

The CPT symmetry is made local for the Dirac field and an analogous local symmetry is proposed for curved spacetime. A nontrivial, infinitesimal variation of the Dirac action is thus induced. It is shown that the metric spin connection of general relativity cannot accommodate this symmetry. A new gauge field is therefore introduced, which turns out to be a real pseudovector field, and its equations of motion are derived.     

Covariant canonical quantization of fields and Bohmian mechanics

We propose a manifestly covariant canonical method of field quantization based on the classical De Donder-Weyl covariant canonical formulation of field theory. Owing to covariance, the space and time arguments of fields are treated on an equal footing. To achieve both covariance and consistency with standard non-covariant canonical quantization of fields in Minkowski spacetime, it is necessary to adopt a covariant Bohmian formulation of quantum field theory. A preferred foliation of spacetime emerges dynamically owing to a purely quantum effect. The application to a simple time-reparametrization invariant system and quantum gravity is discussed and compared with the conventional non-covariant Wheeler-DeWitt approach.Received: 11 October 2004, Published online: 6 July 2005PACS: 04.20.Fy, 04.60.Ds, 04.60.Gw, 04.60.-m     

Parametrized Field Theory

A theory is presented in which a field depends not only on spacetime coordinates x, but also on a Lorentz-invariant parameter . Such a theory is conceptually and technically simple and manifestly covariant at every step. The generator of evolution and the generator of spacetime translations and Lorentz transformations are obtained in a straightforward way. In the quantized theory the Heisenberg equation of motion is written in a covariant form and is equivalent to the field equation. The equal commutator between the field and its canonically conjugate momentum is just proportional to the spacetime function. Finally comparison with the conventional field theory is done, and it is found that the expectation value of the momentum operator in the on shell states is the same.     

Review: Dirac's Observables for the Rest-Frame Instant Form of Tetrad Gravity in a Completely Fixed 3-Orthogonal Gauge

We define the rest-frame instant form of tetrad gravity restricted to Christodoulou-Klainermann spacetimes. After a study of the Hamiltonian group of gauge transformations generated by the 14 first class constraints of the theory, we define and solve the multitemporal equations associated with the rotation and space diffeomorphism constraints, finding how the cotriads and their momenta depend on the corresponding gauge variables. This allows to find a quasi-Shanmugadhasan canonical transformation to the class of 3-orthogonal gauges and to find the Dirac observables for superspace in these gauges. The construction of the explicit form of the transformation and of the solution of the rotation and supermomentum constraints is reduced to solve a system of elliptic linear and quasi-linear partial differential equations. We then show that the superhamiltonian constraint becomes the Lichnerowicz equation for the conformal factor of the 3-metric and that the last gauge variable is the momentum conjugated to the conformal factor. The gauge transformations generated by the superhamiltonian constraint perform the transitions among the allowed foliations of spacetime, so that the theory is independent from its 3+1 splittings. In the special 3-orthogonal gauge defined by the vanishing of the conformal factor momentum we determine the final Dirac observables for the gravitational field even if we are not able to solve the Lichnerowicz equation. The final Hamiltonian is the weak ADM energy restricted to this completely fixed gauge.     

Late-time evolution of massive Dirac fields in the Kerr background

The late-time tail of massive Dirac fields in Kerr spacetime is investigated by using the black hole Green function. It is shown that in the intermediate late times there are two kinds of new properties. The one is that the asymptotic behaviour of the massive Dirac fields is dominated by a decaying tail without any oscillation, which is different from the oscillatory decaying tails of the massive scalar field; the other is that the dumping exponent for the massive Dirac field depends not only on the multiple number of the wave mode and the mass of the Dirac particle but also on the rotating parameter of the black hole.     

Massless Fields on Dirac Six-Cone and De Sitter Ambient Space

We have proceeded to obtain manifestly conformally invariant (CI) equations for thinkable graviton fields in de Sitter (dS) space-time. The tensor fields are originally considered in 4+2 dimensional conformal space or Dirac’s six-cone and then project to dS space which is embedded in 4+1 dimensional ambient space. It will be shown that, by projecting these tensor fields there exists a correspondence between the massless fields on the cone and dS space. Also, we have shown that for rank-2 tensor field the divergenceless condition, which is necessary when we attempt to correspond the tensor field with the unitary irreducible representations (UIRs) of dS group, is not really a condition at all, it is a consequence of ambient space property. Due to the combined occurrences of corresponding fields and divergenceless property, the appropriate CI field equations have obtained in a fairly simple way and without imposing any extra condition.     

5D Dirac Equation in Induced-Matter Theory

According to an induced-matter approach, Liu and Wesson obtained the rest mass of a typical particle from the reduction of a 5D Klein–Gordon equation to a 4D one. Introducing an extra-dimension momentum operator identified with the rest mass eigenvalue operator, we consider a way to generalize the 4D Dirac equation to 5D. An analogous normal Dirac equation is gained when the generalization reduces to 4D. We find the rest mass of a particle in curved space varies with spacetime coordinates and check this for the case of exact solitonic and cosmological solution of the 5D vacuum gravitational field equations.     

Linking covariant and canonical general relativity via local observers

Hamiltonian gravity, relying on arbitrary choices of ‘space,’ can obscure spacetime symmetries. We present an alternative, manifestly spacetime covariant formulation that nonetheless distinguishes between ‘spatial’ and ‘temporal’ variables. The key is viewing dynamical fields from the perspective of a field of observers—a unit timelike vector field that also transforms under local Lorentz transformations. On one hand, all fields are spacetime fields, covariant under spacetime symmeties. On the other, when the observer field is normal to a spatial foliation, the fields automatically fall into Hamiltonian form, recovering the Ashtekar formulation. We argue this provides a bridge between Ashtekar variables and covariant phase space methods. We also outline a framework where the ‘space of observers’ is fundamental, and spacetime geometry itself may be observer-dependent.     

Dirac Field on Moyal-Minkowski Spacetime and Non-commutative Potential Scattering

The quantized free Dirac field is considered on Minkowski spacetime (of general dimension). The Dirac field is coupled to an external scalar potential whose support is finite in time and which acts by a Moyal-deformed multiplication with respect to the spatial variables. The Moyal-deformed multiplication corresponds to the product of the algebra of a Moyal plane described in the setting of spectral geometry. It will be explained how this leads to an interpretation of the Dirac field as a quantum field theory on Moyal-deformed Minkowski spacetime (with commutative time) in a setting of Lorentzian spectral geometries of which some basic aspects will be sketched. The scattering transformation will be shown to be unitarily implementable in the canonical vacuum representation of the Dirac field. Furthermore, it will be indicated how the functional derivatives of the ensuing unitary scattering operators with respect to the strength of the non-commutative potential induce, in the spirit of Bogoliubov’s formula, quantum field operators (corresponding to observables) depending on the elements of the non-commutative algebra of Moyal-Minkowski spacetime.     

Quantum theory in external electromagnetic and gravitational fields: A comparison of some conceptual issues

The quantum theories of a scalar field interacting with external electromagnetic and gravitational fields respectively are compared. It is shown that several peculiar features, like the ambiguity of particle definition, thermal effects etc., which are thought to be special to quantum theory in curved spacetime, have analogues in the case of electromagnetism.     

Renormalization and scaling behavior of non-Abelian gauge fields in curved spacetime

In this article we discuss the one loop renormalization and scaling behavior of non-Abelian gauge field theories in a general curved spacetime. A generating functional is constructed which forms the basis for both the perturbation expansion and the Ward identities. Local momentum space representations for the vector and ghost particles are developed and used to extract the divergent parts of Feynman integrals. The one loop diagram for the ghost propagator and the vector-ghost vertex are shown to have no divergences not present in Minkowski space. The Ward identities insure that this is true for the vector propagator as well. It is shown that the above renormalizations render the three- and four-vector vertices finite. Finally, a renormalization group equation valid in curved spacetimes is derived. Its solution is given and the theory is shown to be asymptotically free as in Minkowski space.     

Quantum field theory in curved spacetime,the operator product expansion,and dark energy

To make sense of quantum field theory in an arbitrary (globally hyperbolic) curved spacetime, the theory must be formulated in a local and covariant manner in terms of locally measurable field observables. Since a generic curved spacetime does not possess symmetries or a unique notion of a vacuum state, the theory also must be formulated in a manner that does not require symmetries or a preferred notion of a “vacuum state” and “particles”. We propose such a formulation of quantum field theory, wherein the operator product expansion (OPE) of the quantum fields is elevated to a fundamental status, and the quantum field theory is viewed as being defined by its OPE. Since the OPE coefficients may be better behaved than any quantities having to do with states, we suggest that it may be possible to perturbatively construct the OPE coefficients—and, thus, the quantum field theory. By contrast, ground/vacuum states—in spacetimes, such as Minkowski spacetime, where they may be defined—cannot vary analytically with the parameters of the theory. We argue that this implies that composite fields may acquire nonvanishing vacuum state expectation values due to nonperturbative effects. We speculate that this could account for the existence of a nonvanishing vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of a quantum field occurring at a scale much smaller than the natural scales of the theory. Fourth Award in the 2008 Essay Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation.     

An axially symmetric scalar field and teleparallelism

An axially symmetric scalar field is considered in teleparallel gravity. We calculate, respectively, the tensor, the vector and the axial-vector parts of torsion and energy, momentum and angular momentum in the ASSF. We find the vector parts are in the radial and \(\hat{e}_{\theta}\) directions, the axial-vector, momentum and angular momentum vanish identically, but the energy distribution is different from zero. The vanishing axial-vector part of torsion gives us the result that there occurs no deviation in the spherical symmetry of the spacetime. Consequently, there exists no inertia field with respect to a Dirac particle, and the spin vector of a Dirac particle becomes constant. The result for the energy is the same as obtained by Radinschi. Next, this work also (a) supports the viewpoint of Lessner that the Møller energy-momentum complex is a powerful concept for the energy-momentum, (b) sustains the importance of the energy-momentum definitions in the evaluation of the energy distribution of a given spacetime, and (c) supports the hypothesis by Cooperstock that the energy is confined to the region of non-vanishing energy-momentum tensor of the matter and all non-gravitational fields.