Covariant quantization of the Maxwell field in de Sitter space from SO0(2,4)-invariance

Abstract

We present a SO0(2,4)-invariant quantization of the free electromagnetic field in de Sitter space. Precisely, we quantize the Maxwell ("massless spin one") de Sitter field in a conformally invariant gauge. This result is obtained thanks to a canonical quantization scheme of the Gupta-Bleuler type and to a geometrical formalism in which the Minkowski, de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spaces are realized as intersections of the five dimensional null cone of ℝ6 and a moving hyperplane. We obtain a new and simple de Sitter invariant two-point function.