TWO-POINT FUNCTIONS AND QUANTUM FIELDS IN DE SITTER UNIVERSE

Abstract

We present a theory of general two-point functions and of generalized free fields in d-dimensional de Sitter space-time which closely parallels the corresponding Minkowskian theory. The usual spectral condition is now replaced by a certain geodesic spectral condition, equivalent to a precise thermal characterization of the corresponding “vacuum” states. Our method is based on the geometry of the complex de Sitter space-time and on the introduction of a class of holomorphic functions on this manifold, called perikernels, which reproduce mutatis mutandis the structural properties of the two-point correlation functions of the Minkowskian quantum field theory. The theory contains as basic elementary case the linear massive field models in their “preferred” representation. The latter are described by the introduction of de Sitter plane waves in their tube domains which lead to a new integral representation of the two-point functions and to a Fourier-Laplace type transformation on the hyperboloid. The Hilbert space structure of these theories is then analysed by using this transformation. In particular we show the Reeh-Schlieder property. For general two-point functions, a substitute to the Wick rotation is defined both in complex space-time and in the complex mass variable, and substantial results concerning the derivation of Källen-Lehmann type representation are obtained.