Acausal quantum theory for non-Archimedean scalar fields

Abstract

We construct a family of quantum scalar fields over a [Formula: see text]-adic spacetime which satisfy [Formula: see text]-adic analogues of the Gårding–Wightman axioms. Most of the axioms can be formulated in the same way for both the Archimedean and non-Archimedean frameworks; however, the axioms depending on the ordering of the background field must be reformulated, reflecting the acausality of [Formula: see text]-adic spacetime. The [Formula: see text]-adic scalar fields satisfy certain [Formula: see text]-adic Klein–Gordon pseudo-differential equations. The second quantization of the solutions of these Klein–Gordon equations corresponds exactly to the scalar fields introduced here. The main conclusion is that there seems to be no obstruction to the existence of a mathematically rigorous quantum field theory (QFT) for free fields in the [Formula: see text]-adic framework, based on an acausal spacetime.