arXiv subjects

Kasia Rejzner

Publications and source records attributed to Kasia Rejzner.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Asymptotic symmetries in the BV-BFV formalism

We show how to derive asymptotic charges for field theories on manifolds with "asymptotic" boundary, using the BV-BFV formalism. We also prove that the conservation of said charges follows naturally from the vanishing of the BFV boundary action, and show how this construction generalises Noether's procedure. Using the BV-BFV viewpoint, we resolve the controversy present in the literature, regarding the status of large gauge transformation as symmetries of the asymptotic structure. We show that even though the symplectic structure at the asymptotic boundary is not preserved under these transformations, the failure is governed by the corner data, in agreement with the BV-BFV philosophy. We analyse in detail the case of electrodynamics and the interacting scalar field, for which we present a new type of duality to a sourced two-form model.

math-ph↗

arXiv2020

Algebraic Classical and Quantum Field Theory on Causal Sets

The framework of perturbative algebraic quantum field theory (pAQFT) is used to construct QFT models on causal sets. We discuss various discretised wave operators, including a new proposal based on the idea of a `preferred past', which we also introduce, and show how they may be used to construct classical free and interacting field theory models on a fixed causal set; additionally, we describe how the sensitivity of observables to changes in the background causal set may be encapsulated in a relative Cauchy evolution. These structures are used as the basis of a deformation quantization, using the methods of pAQFT. The SJ state is defined and discussed as a particular quantum state on the free quantum theory. Finally, using the framework of pAQFT, we construct interacting models for arbitrary interactions that are smooth functions of the field configurations. This is the first construction of such a wide class of models achieved in QFT on causal sets.

math-ph↗

arXiv2019

Locality and causality in perturbative AQFT

In this paper we discuss how seemingly different notions of locality and causality in quantum field theory can be unified using a non-abelian generalization of the Hammerstein property (originally introduced as a weaker version of linearity). We also prove a generalization of the main theorem of renormalization, in which we do not require field independence.

math-ph↗

arXiv2019

Algebraic Quantum Field Theory -- an introduction

We give a pedagogical introduction to algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT), with the aim of explaining its key structures and features. Topics covered include: algebraic formulations of quantum theory and the GNS representation theorem, the appearance of unitarily inequivalent representations in QFT (exemplified by the van Hove model), the main assumptions of AQFT and simple models thereof, the spectrum condition, Reeh--Schlieder theorem, split property, the universal type of local algebras, and the theory of superselection sectors. The abstract discussion is illustrated by concrete examples. One of our concerns is to explain various ways in which quantum field theory differs from quantum mechanics, not just in terms of technical detail, but in terms of physical content. The text is supplemented by exercises and appendices that enlarge on some of the relevant mathematical background. These notes are based on lectures given by CJF for the International Max Planck Research School at the Albert Einstein Institute, Golm (October, 2018) and by KR at the Raman Research Institute, Bangalore (January, 2019).

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Relating nets and factorization algebras of observables: free field theories

In this paper we relate two mathematical frameworks that make perturbative quantum field theory rigorous: perturbative algebraic quantum field theory (pAQFT) and the factorization algebras framework developed by Costello and Gwilliam. To make the comparison as explicit as possible, we use the free scalar field as our running example, while giving proofs that apply to any field theory whose equations of motion are Green-hyperbolic (which includes, for instance, free fermions). The main claim is that for such free theories, there is a natural transformation intertwining the two constructions. In fact, both approaches encode equivalent information if one assumes the time-slice axiom. The key technical ingredient is to use time-ordered products as an intermediate step between a net of associative algebras and a factorization algebra.

math-ph↗

arXiv2019

The Star Product in Interacting Quantum Field Theory

We propose a new formula for the star product in deformation quantization of Poisson structures related in a specific way to a variational problem for a function $S$, interpreted as the action functional. Our approach is motivated by perturbative Algebraic Quantum Field Theory (pAQFT). We provide a direct combinatorial formula for the star product and we show that it can be applied to a certain class of infinite dimensional manifolds (e.g., regular observables in pAQFT). This is the first step towards understanding how pAQFT can be formulated such that the only formal parameter is $\hbar$, while the coupling constant can be treated as a number. In the introductory part of the paper, apart from reviewing the framework, we make precise several statements present in the pAQFT literature and recast these in the language of (formal) deformation quantization. Finally, we use our formalism to streamline the proof of perturbative agreement provided by Drago, Hack, and Pinamonti and to generalize some of the results obtained in that work to the case of a non-linear interaction.

math-ph↗

arXiv2017

Local nets of von Neumann algebras in the Sine-Gordon model

The Haag-Kastler net of local von Neumann algebras is constructed in the ultraviolet finite regime of the sine-Gordon model, and its equivalence with the massive Thirring model is proved. In contrast to other authors, we do not add an auxiliary mass term, and we work completely in Lorentzian signature. The construction is based on the functional formalism for perturbative Algebraic Quantum Field Theory together with estimates originally derived within Constructive Quantum Field Theory and adapted to Lorentzian signature. The paper extends previous work by two of us.

math-ph↗

arXiv2017

Properties of field functionals and characterization of local functionals

Functionals (i.e. functions of functions) are widely used in quantum field theory and solid-state physics. In this paper, functionals are given a rigorous mathematical framework and their main properties are described. The choice of the proper space of test functions (smooth functions) and of the relevant concept of differential (Bastiani differential) are discussed. The relation between the multiple derivatives of a functional and the corresponding distributions is described in detail. It is proved that, in a neighborhood of every test function, the support of a smooth functional is uniformly compactly supported and the order of the corresponding distribution is uniformly bounded. Relying on a recent work by Yoann Dabrowski, several spaces of functionals are furnished with a complete and nuclear topology. In view of physical applications, it is shown that most formal manipulations can be given a rigorous meaning. A new concept of local functionals is proposed and two characterizations of them are given: the first one uses the additivity (or Hammerstein) property, the second one is a variant of Peetre's theorem. Finally, the first step of a cohomological approach to quantum field theory is carried out by proving a global Poincaré lemma and defining multi-vector fields and graded functionals within our framework.

math-ph↗

arXiv2017

Renormalization and periods in perturbative Algebraic Quantum Field Theory

In this paper I give an overview of mathematical structures appearing in perturbative algebraic quantum field theory (pAQFT) in the case of the massless scalar field on Minkowski spacetime. I also show how these relate to Kontsevich-Zagier periods. Next, I review the pAQFT version of the renormalization group flow and reformulate it in terms of Feynman graphs. This allows me to relate Kontsevich-Zagier periods to numbers appearing in computing the pAQFT $β$-function.

math-ph↗

arXiv2017

The Quantum Sine Gordon model in perturbative AQFT

We study the Sine-Gordon model with Minkowski signature in the framework of perturbative algebraic quantum field theory. We calculate the vertex operator algebra braiding property. We prove that in the finite regime of the model, the expectation value - with respect to the vacuum or a Hadamard state - of the Epstein Glaser S-matrix and the interacting current or the field respectively, both given as formal power series, converge.

math-ph↗

arXiv2016

Effective quantum gravity observables and locally covariant QFT

Perturbative algebraic quantum field theory (pAQFT) is a mathematically rigorous framework that allows to construct models of quantum field theories on a general class of Lorentzian manifolds. Recently this idea has been applied also to perturbative quantum gravity, treated as an effective theory. The difficulty was to find the right notion of observables that would in an appropriate sense be diffeomorphism invariant. In this article I will outline a general framework that allows to quantize theories with local symmetries (this includes infinitesimal diffeomorphism transformations) with the use of the BV (Batalin-Vilkovisky) formalism. This approach has been successfully applied to effective quantum gravity in a recent paper by R. Brunetti, K. Fredenhagen and myself. In the same paper we also proved perturbative background independence of the quantized theory, which is going to be discussed in the present work as well.

math-ph↗