Equivalence between Euclidean and in-in formalisms in de Sitter QFT

Abstract

We study the relation between two sets of correlators in interacting quantum field theory on de Sitter space. The first are correlators computed using in-in perturbation theory in the expanding cosmological patch of de Sitter space (also known as the conformal patch, or the Poincar\'e patch), and for which the free propagators are taken to be those of the free Euclidean vacuum. The second are correlators obtained by analytic continuation from Euclidean de Sitter; i.e., they are correlators in the fully interacting Hartle-Hawking state. We give an analytic argument that these correlators coincide for interacting massive scalar fields with any $m^2 > 0$. We also verify this result via direct calculation in simple examples. The correspondence holds diagram by diagram, and at any finite value of an appropriate Pauli-Villars regulator mass M. Along the way, we note interesting connections between various prescriptions for perturbation theory in general static spacetimes with bifurcate Killing horizons.