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Stefan Hollands

Publications and source records attributed to Stefan Hollands.

89 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv2005

Stability in Designer Gravity

We study the stability of designer gravity theories, in which one considers gravity coupled to a tachyonic scalar with anti-de Sitter boundary conditions defined by a smooth function W. We construct Hamiltonian generators of the asymptotic symmetries using the covariant phase space method of Wald et al.and find they differ from the spinor charges except when W=0. The positivity of the spinor charge is used to establish a lower bound on the conserved energy of any solution that satisfies boundary conditions for which $W$ has a global minimum. A large class of designer gravity theories therefore have a stable ground state, which the AdS/CFT correspondence indicates should be the lowest energy soliton. We make progress towards proving this, by showing that minimum energy solutions are static. The generalization of our results to designer gravity theories in higher dimensions involving several tachyonic scalars is discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv2005

Quantum Energy Inequalities in two-dimensional conformal field theory

Quantum energy inequalities (QEIs) are state-independent lower bounds on weighted averages of the stress-energy tensor, and have been established for several free quantum field models. We present rigorous QEI bounds for a class of interacting quantum fields, namely the unitary, positive energy conformal field theories (with stress-energy tensor) on two-dimensional Minkowski space. The QEI bound depends on the weight used to average the stress-energy tensor and the central charge(s) of the theory, but not on the quantum state. We give bounds for various situations: averaging along timelike, null and spacelike curves, as well as over a spacetime volume. In addition, we consider boundary conformal field theories and more general 'moving mirror' models. Our results hold for all theories obeying a minimal set of axioms which -- as we show -- are satisfied by all models built from unitary highest-weight representations of the Virasoro algebra. In particular, this includes all (unitary, positive energy) minimal models and rational conformal field theories. Our discussion of this issue collects together (and, in places, corrects) various results from the literature which do not appear to have been assembled in this form elsewhere.

math-ph↗
arXiv2005

Conservation of the stress tensor in perturbative interacting quantum field theory in curved spacetimes

We propose additional conditions (beyond those considered in our previous papers) that should be imposed on Wick products and time-ordered products of a free quantum scalar field in curved spacetime. These conditions arise from a simple ``Principle of Perturbative Agreement'': For interaction Lagrangians $L_1$ that are such that the interacting field theory can be constructed exactly--as occurs when $L_1$ is a ``pure divergence'' or when $L_1$ is at most quadratic in the field and contains no more than two derivatives--then time-ordered products must be defined so that the perturbative solution for interacting fields obtained from the Bogoliubov formula agrees with the exact solution. The conditions derived from this principle include a version of the Leibniz rule (or ``action Ward identity'') and a condition on time-ordered products that contain a factor of the free field $ϕ$ or the free stress-energy tensor $T_{ab}$. The main results of our paper are (1) a proof that in spacetime dimensions greater than 2, our new conditions can be consistently imposed in addition to our previously considered conditions and (2) a proof that, if they are imposed, then for {\em any} polynomial interaction Lagrangian $L_1$ (with no restriction on the number of derivatives appearing in $L_1$), the stress-energy tensor $Θ_{ab}$ of the interacting theory will be conserved. Our work thereby establishes (in the context of perturbation theory) the conservation of stress-energy for an arbitrary interacting scalar field in curved spacetimes of dimension greater than 2. Our approach requires us to view time-ordered products as maps taking classical field expressions into the quantum field algebra rather than as maps taking Wick polynomials of the quantum field into the quantum field algebra.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2004

Conformal Null Infinity Does Not Exist for Radiating Solutions in Odd Spacetime Dimensions

We show that for general relativity in odd spacetime dimensions greater than 4, all components of the unphysical Weyl tensor for arbitrary smooth, compact spatial support perturbations of Minkowski spacetime fail to be smooth at null infinity at leading nonvanishing order. This implies that for nearly flat radiating spacetimes, the non-smoothness of the unphysical metric at null infinity manifests itself at the same order as it describes deviations from flatness of the physical metric. Therefore, in odd spacetime dimensions, it does not appear that conformal null infinity can be in any way useful for describing radiation.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2004

Asymptotic flatness at null infinity in higher dimensional gravity

We give a geometrical definition of the asymptotic flatness at null infinity in spacetimes of even dimension $d$ greater than 4 within the framework of conformal infinity. Our definition is shown to be stable against perturbations to linear order. We also show that our definition is stringent enough to allow one to define the total energy of the system viewed from null infinity as the generator conjugate to an asymptotic time translation. We derive an expression for the generator conjugate within the Hamiltonian framework, and propose to take this notion of energy as the natural generalisation of the Bondi energy to higher dimensions. Our definitions of asymptotic flatness and the Bondi energy formula differ qualitatively from the corresponding definitions in $d=4$; although the asymptotic structure of null infinity in higher dimensions parallels that in 4-dimensions in some ways, the latter seems to be a rather special case on the whole compared to general $d>4$. Our definitions and constructions do not work in odd spacetime dimensions, essentially because the unphysical metric seems to have insufficient regularity properties at null infinity in that case.

hep-th↗
arXiv2004

Nuclearity, Local Quasiequivalence and Split Property for Dirac Quantum Fields in Curved Spacetime

We show that a free Dirac quantum field on a globally hyperbolic spacetime has the following structural properties: (a) any two quasifree Hadamard states on the algebra of free Dirac fields are locally quasiequivalent; (b) the split-property holds in the representation of any quasifree Hadamard state; (c) if the underlying spacetime is static, then the nuclearity condition is satisfied, that is, the free energy associated with a finitely extended subsystem (``box'') has a linear dependence on the volume of the box and goes like $\propto T^{s+1}$ for large temperatures $T$, where $s+1$ is the number of dimensions of the spacetime.

math-ph↗
arXiv2004

Quantum Field Theory Is Not Merely Quantum Mechanics Applied to Low Energy Effective Degrees of Freedom

It is commonly assumed that quantum field theory arises by applying ordinary quantum mechanics to the low energy effective degrees of freedom of a more fundamental theory defined at ultra-high-energy/short-wavelength scales. We shall argue here that, even for free quantum fields, there are holistic aspects of quantum field theory that cannot be properly understood in this manner. Specifically, the ``subtractions'' needed to define nonlinear polynomial functions of a free quantum field in curved spacetime are quite simple and natural from the quantum field theoretic point of view, but are at best extremely ad hoc and unnatural if viewed as independent renormalizations of individual modes of the field. We illustrate this point by contrasting the analysis of the Casimir effect, the renormalization of the stress-energy tensor in time-dependent spacetimes, and anomalies from the point of quantum field theory and from the point of view of quantum mechanics applied to the independent low energy modes of the field. Some implications for the cosmological constant problem are discussed.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2004

Asymptotic Flatness and Bondi Energy in Higher Dimensional Gravity

We give a general geometric definition of asymptotic flatness at null infinity in $d$-dimensional general relativity ($d$ even) within the framework of conformal infinity. Our definition is arrived at via an analysis of linear perturbations near null infinity and shown to be stable under such perturbations. The detailed fall off properties of the perturbations, as well as the gauge conditions that need to be imposed to make the perturbations regular at infinity, are qualitatively different in higher dimensions; in particular, the decay rate of a radiating solution at null infinity differs from that of a static solution in higher dimensions. The definition of asymptotic flatness in higher dimensions consequently also differs qualitatively from that in $d=4$. We then derive an expression for the generator conjugate to an asymptotic time translation symmetry for asymptotically flat spacetimes in $d$-dimensional general relativity ($d$ even) within the Hamiltonian framework, making use especially of a formalism developed by Wald and Zoupas. This generator is given by an integral over a cross section at null infinity of a certain local expression and is taken to be the definition of the Bondi energy in $d$ dimensions. Our definition yields a manifestly positive flux of radiated energy. Our definitions and constructions fail in odd spacetime dimensions, essentially because the regularity properties of the metric at null infinity seem to be insufficient in that case. We also find that there is no direct analog of the well-known infinite set of angle dependent translational symmetries in more than 4 dimensions.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2004

Algebraic Approach to the 1/N Expansion in Quantum Field Theory

The 1/N expansion in quantum field theory is formulated within an algebraic framework. For a scalar field taking values in the $N$ by $N$ hermitian matrices, we rigorously construct the gauge invariant interacting quantum field operators in the sense of power series in 1/N and the `t Hooft coupling parameter as members of an abstract *-algebra. The key advantages of our algebraic formulation over the usual formulation of the 1/N expansion in terms of Green's functions are (i) that it is completely local so that infra-red divergencies in massless theories are avoided on the algebraic level and (ii) that it admits a generalization to quantum field theories on general Lorentzian curved spacetimes. We expect that our constructions are also applicable in models possessing local gauge invariance such as Yang-Mills theories. The 1/N expansion of the renormalization group flow is constructed on the algebraic level via a family of *-isomorphisms between the algebras of interacting field observables corresponding to different scales. We also consider $k$-parameter deformations of the interacting field algebras that arise from reducing the symmetry group of the model to a diagonal subgroup with $k$ factors. These parameters smoothly interpolate between situations of different symmetry.

math-ph↗
arXiv2002

A General PCT Theorem for the Operator Product Expansion in Curved Spacetime

We consider the operator product expansion for quantum field theories on general analytic 4-dimensional curved spacetimes within an axiomatic framework. We prove under certain general, model-independent assumptions that such an expansion necessarily has to be invariant under a simultaneous reversal of parity, time, and charge (PCT) in the following sense: The coefficients in the expansion of a product of fields on a curved spacetime with a given choice of time and space orientation are equal (modulo complex conjugation) to the coefficients for the product of the corresponding charge conjugate fields on the spacetime with the opposite time and space orientation. We propose that this result should be viewed as a replacement of the usual PCT theorem in Minkowski spacetime, at least in as far as the algebraic structure of the quantum fields at short distances is concerned.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2002

On the Renormalization Group in Curved Spacetime

We define the renormalization group flow for a renormalizable interacting quantum field in curved spacetime via its behavior under scaling of the spacetime metric, $\g \to λ^2 \g$. We consider explicitly the case of a scalar field, $ϕ$, with a self-interaction of the form $κϕ^4$, although our results should generalize straightforwardly to other renormalizable theories. We construct the interacting field--as well as its Wick powers and their time-ordered-products--as formal power series in the algebra generated by the Wick powers and time-ordered-products of the free field, and we determine the changes in the interacting field observables resulting from changes in the renormalization prescription. Our main result is the proof that, for any fixed renormalization prescription, the interacting field algebra for the spacetime $(M, λ^2 \g)$ with coupling parameters $p$ is isomorphic to the interacting field algebra for the spacetime $(M, \g)$ but with different values, $p(λ)$, of the coupling parameters. The map $p \to p(λ)$ yields the renormalization group flow. The notion of essential and inessential coupling parameters is defined, and we define the notion of a fixed point as a point, $p$, in the parameter space for which there is no change in essential parameters under renormalization group flow.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2002

Existence of Local Covariant Time Ordered Products of Quantum Fields in Curved Spacetime

We establish the existence of local, covariant time ordered products of local Wick polynomials for a free scalar field in curved spacetime. Our time ordered products satisfy all of the hypotheses of our previous uniqueness theorem, so our construction essentially completes the analysis of the existence, uniqueness and renormalizability of the perturbative expansion for nonlinear quantum field theories in curved spacetime. As a byproduct of our analysis, we derive a scaling expansion of the time ordered products about the total diagonal that expresses them as a sum of products of polynomials in the curvature times Lorentz invariant distributions, plus a remainder term of arbitrary low scaling degree.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2002

An Alternative to Inflation

Inflationary models are generally credited with explaining the large scale homogeneity, isotropy, and flatness of our universe as well as accounting for the origin of structure (i.e., the deviations from exact homogeneity) in our universe. We argue that the explanations provided by inflation for the homogeneity, isotropy, and flatness of our universe are not satisfactory, and that a proper explanation of these features will require a much deeper understanding of the initial state of our universe. On the other hand, inflationary models are spectacularly successful in providing an explanation of the deviations from homogeneity. We point out here that the fundamental mechanism responsible for providing deviations from homogeneity -- namely, the evolutionary behavior of quantum modes with wavelength larger than the Hubble radius -- will operate whether or not inflation itself occurs. However, if inflation did not occur, one must directly confront the issue of the initial state of modes whose wavelength was larger than the Hubble radius at the time at which they were "born". Under some simple hypotheses concerning the "birth time" and initial state of these modes (but without any "fine tuning"), it is shown that non-inflationary fluid models in the extremely early universe would result in the same density perturbation spectrum and amplitude as inflationary models, although there would be no "slow roll" enhancement of the scalar modes.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2001

The State Space of Perturbative Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetimes

The space of continuous states of perturbative interacting quantum field theories in globally hyperbolic curved spacetimes is determined. Following Brunetti and Fredenhagen, we first define an abstract algebra of observables which contains the Wick-polynomials of the free field as well as their time-ordered products, and hence, by the well-known rules of perturbative quantum field theory, also the observables (up to finite order) of interest for the interacting quantum field theory. We then determine the space of continuous states on this algebra. Our result is that this space consists precisely of those states whose truncated n-point functions of the free field are smooth for all n not equal to two, and whose two-point function has the singularity of a Hadamard fundamental form. A crucial role in our analysis is played by the positivity property of states. On the technical side, our proof involves functional analytic methods, in particular the methods of microlocal analysis.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2001

Local Wick Polynomials and Time Ordered Products of Quantum Fields in Curved Spacetime

In order to have well defined rules for the perturbative calculation of quantities of interest in an interacting quantum field theory in curved spacetime, it is necessary to construct Wick polynomials and their time ordered products for the noninteracting theory. A construction of these quantities has recently been given by Brunetti, Fredenhagen, and Kohler, and by Brunetti and Fredenhagen, but they did not impose any ``locality'' or ``covariance'' condition in their constructions. As a consequence, their construction of time ordered products contained ambiguities involving arbitrary functions of spacetime point rather than arbitrary parameters. In this paper, we construct an ``extended Wick polynomial algebra''-large enough to contain the Wick polynomials and their time ordered products. We then define the notion of a {\it local, covariant quantum field}, and seek a definition of {\it local} Wick polynomials and their time ordered products as local, covariant quantum fields. We impose scaling requirements on our local Wick polynomials and their time ordered products as well as certain additional requirements-such as commutation relations with the free field and appropriate continuity properties under variations of the spacetime metric. For a given polynomial order in powers of the field, we prove that these conditions uniquely determine the local Wick polynomials and their time ordered products up to a finite number of parameters. (These parameters correspond to the usual renormalization ambiguities occurring in Minkowski spacetime together with additional parameters corresponding to the coupling of the field to curvature.) We also prove existence of local Wick polynomials. However, the issue of existence of local time ordered products is deferred to a future investigation

gr-qc↗