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arXiv · hep-th/9610180

Optical Approach for the Thermal Partition Function of Photons

Valter Moretti·Devis Iellici
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Abstract

The optical manifold method to compute the one-loop effective action in a static space-time is extended from the massless scalar field to the Maxwell field in any Feynman-like covariant gauge. The method is applied to the case of the Rindler space obtaining the same results as the point-splitting procedure. The result is free from Kabat's surface terms which instead affect the $ζ$-function or heat-kernel approaches working directly in the static manifold containing conical singularities. The relation between the optical method and the direct $ζ$-function approach on the Euclidean Rindler manifold is discussed both in the scalar and the photon cases. Problems with the thermodynamic self-consistency of the results obtained from the stress tensor in the case of the Rindler space are pointed out.

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Valter Moretti, Devis Iellici. 1997-02-03. Optical Approach for the Thermal Partition Function of Photons. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.55.3552

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