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arXiv · hep-th/0312143

Taming the alpha-vacuum

Hael Collins·R. Holman
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Abstract

An interacting scalar field theory in de Sitter space is non-renormalizable for a generic alpha-vacuum state. This pathology arises since the usual propagator used allows for a constructive interference among propagators in loop corrections, which produces divergences that are not proportional to standard counterterms. This interference can be avoided by defining a new propagator for the alpha-vacuum based on a generalized time-ordering prescription. The generating functional associated with this propagator contains a source that couples to the field both at a point and at its antipode. To one loop order, we show that a set of theories with very general antipodal interactions is causal and renormalizable.

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Hael Collins, R. Holman. 2003-12-14. Taming the alpha-vacuum. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.70.084019

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