Partial Differential Equations and Quantum States in Curved Spacetimes

In this review paper, we discuss the relation between recent advances in the theory of partial differential equations and their applications to quantum field theory on curved spacetimes. In particular, we focus on hyperbolic propagators and the role they play in the construction of physically admissible quantum states—the so-called Hadamard states—on globally hyperbolic spacetimes. We will review the notion of a propagator and discuss how it can be constructed in an explicit and invariant fashion, first on a Riemannian manifold and then on a Lorentzian spacetime. Finally, we will recall the notion of Hadamard state and relate the latter to hyperbolic propagators via the wavefront set, a subset of the cotangent bundle capturing the information about the singularities of a distribution.

Intertwining operators for symmetric hyperbolic systems on globally hyperbolic manifolds

In this paper, a geometric process to compare solutions of symmetric hyperbolic systems on (possibly different) globally hyperbolic manifolds is realized via a family of intertwining operators. By fixing a suitable parameter, it is shown that the resulting intertwining operator preserves Hermitian forms naturally defined on the space of homogeneous solutions. As an application, we investigate the action of the intertwining operators in the context of algebraic quantum field theory. In particular, we provide a new geometric proof for the existence of the so-called Hadamard states on globally hyperbolic manifolds.

The art of the state

Quantum field theory (QFT) on curved spacetimes lacks an obvious distinguished vacuum state. We review a recent no-go theorem that establishes the impossibility of finding a preferred state in each globally hyperbolic spacetime, subject to certain natural conditions. The result applies in particular to the free scalar field, but the proof is model-independent and therefore of wider applicability. In addition, we critically examine the recently proposed “SJ states”, that are determined by the spacetime geometry alone, but which fail to be Hadamard in general. We describe a modified construction that can yield an infinite family of Hadamard states, and also explain recent results that motivate the Hadamard condition without direct reference to ultra-high energies or ultra-short distance structure.

On the algebraic quantization of a massive scalar field in anti-de Sitter spacetime

We discuss the algebraic quantization of a real, massive scalar field in the Poincaré patch of the [Formula: see text]-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, with arbitrary boundary conditions. By using the functional formalism, we show that it is always possible to associate to such system an algebra of observables enjoying the standard properties of causality, time-slice axiom and F-locality. In addition, we characterize the wavefront set of the ground state associated to the system under investigation. As a consequence, we are able to generalize the definition of Hadamard states and construct a global algebra of Wick polynomials.