arXiv subjects

Viacheslav A. Emelyanov

Publications and source records attributed to Viacheslav A. Emelyanov.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Field Quantisations in Schwarzschild Spacetime: Theory versus Low-Energy Experiments

Non-relativistic quantum particles in the Earth's gravitational field are successfully described by the Schrödinger equation with Newton's gravitational potential. Particularly, quantum mechanics is in agreement with such experiments as free fall and quantum interference induced by gravity. However, quantum mechanics is a low-energy approximation to quantum field theory. The latter is successful by the description of high-energy experiments. Gravity is embedded in quantum field theory through the general-covariance principle. This framework is known in the literature as quantum field theory in curved spacetime, where the concept of a quantum particle is, though, ambiguous. In this article, we study in this framework how a Hawking particle moves in the far-horizon region of Schwarzschild spacetime by computing its propagator. We find this propagator differs from that which follows from the path-integral formalism -- the formalism which adequately describes both free fall and quantum interference induced by gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

On free fall of fermions and antifermions

We propose a model describing spin-half quantum particles in curved spacetime in the framework of quantum field theory. Our model is based on embodying Einstein's equivalence principle and general covariance in the definition of quantum-particle states. With this model at hand, we compute several observables which characterise spin-half quantum particles in a gravitational field. In particular, we find that spin precesses in a normal Fermi frame, even in the absence of torsion. The effect appears to be complementary to free-fall non-universality we have recently reported about for spinless quantum particles. Furthermore, we find that quantum-particle gravitational-potential energy is insensitive to wave-packet spreading in the Earth's gravitational field, that is responsible for the non-universality of free fall in quantum theory. This theoretical result provides another channel for the experimental study of our quantum-particle model by using gravitational spectrometers. Finally, we also find that (elementary) fermions and antifermions are indistinguishable in gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Free-fall non-universality in quantum theory

We show by embodying the Einstein equivalence principle - local Poincaré invariance - and general covariance in quantum theory that wave-function spreading rules out the universality of free fall, i.e. the free-fall trajectory of a quantum (test) particle depends on its internal properties. We provide a quantitative estimate of the free-fall non-universality in terms of the Eötvös parameter, which turns out to be measurable in atom interferometry.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

On free fall of quantum matter

We propose an approach that allows to systematically take into account gravity in quantum particle physics. It is based on quantum field theory and the general principle of relativity. These are used to build a model for quantum particles in curved spacetime. We compute by its means a deviation from a classical geodesic in the Earth's gravitational field. This shows that free fall depends on quantum-matter properties. Specifically, we find that the free-fall universality and the wave-packet spreading are mutually exclusive phenomena. We then estimate the Eötvös parameter for a pair of atoms freely falling near the Earth's surface, provided that the wave-packet spreading is more fundamental than the weak equivalence principle.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

The Minkowski quantum vacuum does not gravitate

We show that a non-zero renormalised value of the zero-point energy in $λϕ^4$-theory over Minkowski spacetime is in tension with the scalar-field equation at two-loop order in perturbation theory.

hep-th↗