Algebraic Quantum Field Theory Research Articles

Crossed product algebras and generalized entropy for subregions

An early result of algebraic quantum field theory is that the algebra of any subregion in a QFT is a von Neumann factor of type III_{1}1, in which entropy cannot be well-defined because such algebras do not admit a trace or density states. However, associated to the algebra is a modular group of automorphisms characterizing the local dynamics of degrees of freedom in the region, and the crossed product of the algebra with its modular group yields a type II_∞∞ factor, in which traces and hence von Neumann entropy can be well-defined. In this work, we generalize recent constructions of the crossed product algebra for the TFD to, in principle, arbitrary spacetime regions in arbitrary QFTs, formally paving the way to the study of entanglement entropy without UV divergences. In contrast to previous works, we emphasize that this construction is independent of gravity. In this sense, the crossed product construction represents a refinement of Haag’s assignment of nets of observable algebras to spacetime regions by providing a natural construction of a type II factor. We present several concrete examples: a QFT in Rindler space, a CFT in an open ball of Minkowski space, and arbitrary boundary subregions in AdS/CFT. In the holographic setting, we provide a novel argument for why the bulk dual must be the entanglement wedge, and discuss the distinction arising from boundary modular flow between causal and entanglement wedges for excited states and disjoint regions.

The causal axioms of algebraic quantum field theory: A diagnostic

Algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) puts forward three “causal axioms” that aim to characterize the theory as one that implements relativistic causation: the spectrum condition, microcausality, and primitive causality. In this paper, I aim to show, in a minimally technical way, that none of them fully explains the notion of causation appropriate for AQFT because they only capture some of the desiderata for relativistic causation I state or because it is often unclear how each axiom implements its respective desideratum. After this diagnostic, I will show that a fourth condition, local primitive causality (LPC), fully characterizes relativistic causation in the sense of fulfilling all the relevant desiderata. However, it only encompasses the virtues of the other axioms because it is implied by them, as I will show from a construction by Haag and Schroer (1962). Since the conjunction of the three causal axioms implies LPC and other important results in QFT that LPC does not imply, and since LPC helps clarify some of the shortcomings of the three axioms, I advocate for a holistic interpretation of how the axioms characterize the causal structure of AQFT against the strategy in the literature to rivalize the axioms and privilege one among them.

Efficient vacuum-state preparation for quantum simulation of strongly interacting local quantum field theories

Efficient vacuum-state preparation for quantum simulation of strongly interacting local quantum field theories

Quantization of Lorentzian free BV theories: factorization algebra vs algebraic quantum field theory

We construct and compare two alternative quantizations, as a time-orderable prefactorization algebra and as an algebraic quantum field theory valued in cochain complexes, of a natural collection of free BV theories on the category of m-dimensional globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds. Our comparison is realized as an explicit isomorphism of time-orderable prefactorization algebras. The key ingredients of our approach are the retarded and advanced Green’s homotopies associated with free BV theories, which generalize retarded and advanced Green’s operators to cochain complexes of linear differential operators.

Model λ(φ 2n )4, n ≥ 2 quantum field theory: A nonstandard approach based on nonstandard pointwise-defined quantum fields

A new non-Archimedean approach to interacted quantum fields is presented. In proposed approach, a field operator φ(x, t), no longer a standard tempered operator-valued distribution, but a non-classical operator-valued function. We prove using this novel approach that the quantum field theory with Hamiltonian P(φ)4 exists and that the corresponding C* - algebra of bounded observables satisfies all the Haag-Kastler axioms except Lorentz covariance. We prove that the λ(φ 2n )4, n ≥ 2 quantum field theory models are Lorentz covariant.

SAQFT: Algebraic quantum field theory for elementary and composite particles

SAQFT: Algebraic quantum field theory for elementary and composite particles

Modular geodesics and wedge domains in non-compactly causal symmetric spaces

We continue our investigation of the interplay between causal structures on symmetric spaces and geometric aspects of Algebraic Quantum Field Theory. We adopt the perspective that the geometric implementation of the modular group is given by the flow generated by an Euler element of the Lie algebra (an element defining a 3-grading). Since any Euler element of a semisimple Lie algebra specifies a canonical non-compactly causal symmetric space M=G/H\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$M = G/H$$\\end{document}, we turn in this paper to the geometry of this flow. Our main results concern the positivity region W of the flow (the corresponding wedge region): If G has trivial center, then W is connected, it coincides with the so-called observer domain, specified by a trajectory of the modular flow which at the same time is a causal geodesic. It can also be characterized in terms of a geometric KMS condition, and it has a natural structure of an equivariant fiber bundle over a Riemannian symmetric space that exhibits it as a real form of the crown domain of G/K. Among the tools that we need for these results are two observations of independent interest: a polar decomposition of the positivity domain and a convexity theorem for G-translates of open H-orbits in the minimal flag manifold specified by the 3-grading.

The Ontology of Haag's Local Quantum Physics.

The ontology of Local Quantum Physics, Rudolf Haag's framework for relativistic quantum theory, is reviewed and discussed. It is one of spatiotemporally localized events and unlocalized causal intermediaries, including the elementary particles, which come progressively into existence in accordance with a fundamental arrow of time. Haag's conception of quantum theory is distinguished from others in which events are also central, especially those of Niels Bohr and John Wheeler, with which it has been compared.

Review of antimatter

The theory of antimatter was proposed long ago and thought of as made up of antiparticles. Antimatter was believed to exist based on the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, which are thought to be two fundamental concepts in modern physics. However, it turned out that scientists had great difficulty in finding antimatter. This has led to a discussion about what dark matter is made of and how it exists. Depending on the context of algebraic quantum field theory, antimatter does not consist of antiparticles, which means that antiparticles are particles that consist of antimatter. The notion of antimatter will be explained through the quantum field theory (QFT) theory. How we define the antimatter depends on our criteria in the physical state space. Recent research in AQFTAdvanced Quantum Field Theory) shows that all different quantum states possess antimatter counterparts, which has greatly expanded the field of antimatter research. Then several possible explanations for the distribution of antimatter and their theoretical foundation will be discussed. After exploration and observation across nearly one century, scientists still cannot get a reasonably clear picture of the distribution of antimatter. Why antimatter appeared and disappeared is still unknown, and attempts to find antimatter that exists in nature are going on. Scientists have had some good success when focused on the center of black holes and supermassive objects in space. There have been a lot of observations of antimatter in progress since decades of years ago.

Structural Algebraic Quantum Field Theory: Particles with Structure

Conventional quantum field theory is a method for studying structureless elementary particles. Non-elementary particles, on the other hand, are those with internal structure or particles that are made up of elementary constituents like the nucleons, which contain quarks and gluons. We introduce a structure-inclusive algebraic formulation of quantum field theory that could handle such particles and in which orthogonal polynomials play a central role. For simplicity, we consider non-elementary scalar particles in 3 + 1 Minkowski space-time and, in an appendix, we treat spinors having structure but in 1 + 1 space-time. We show how scattering calculations are done in this theory for an illustrative example with nonlinear coupling. The aim of this short exposé is to motivate further studies and research using this approach.

A proposed renormalization scheme for non-local QFTs and application to the hierarchy problem

We propose a renormalization scheme for non-local Quantum Field Theories (QFTs) with infinite derivatives inspired by string theory. Our Non-locality Renormalization Scheme (NRS) is inspired by Dimensional Regularization (DR) in local QFTs and is shown to significantly improve the UV behavior of non-local QFTs. We illustrate the scheme using simple examples from the ϕ3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\phi ^{3}$$\\end{document} and ϕ4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\phi ^{4}$$\\end{document} theories, then we evaluate the viability of NRS-enhanced non-local QFTs to solve the hierarchy problem using a simplified toy model. We find that non-locality protects the mass of a light scalar from receiving large corrections from any UV sector to which it couples, as long as the non-locality scale Λ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Lambda $$\\end{document} is sufficiently smaller than the scale of the UV sector. We also find that NRS eliminates any large threshold corrections from the IR sector.

Channel Divergences and Complexity in Algebraic QFT

We consider a notion of divergence between quantum channels in relativistic continuum quantum field theory (QFT) that is derived from the Belavkin–Staszewski relative entropy and the concept of bimodules for general von Neumann algebras. Key concepts of the divergence that we shall prove based on a new variational formulation of that relative entropy are the subadditivity under composition and additivity under the tensor product between channels. Based on these properties, we propose to use the channel divergence relative to the trivial (identity-) channel as a novel measure of complexity. Using the properties of our channel divergence, we prove in the prerequisite generality necessary for the algebras in QFT that the corresponding complexity has several reasonable properties: (i) the complexity of a composite channel is not larger than the sum of its parts, (ii) it is additive for channels localized in spacelike separated regions, (iii) it is convex, (iv) for an N-ary measurement channel it is log N, (v) for a conditional expectation associated with an inclusion of QFTs with finite Jones index it is given by log (text {Jones Index}).

An algebraic quantum field theoretic approach to toric code with gapped boundary

Topologically ordered quantum spin systems have become an area of great interest, as they may provide a fault-tolerant means of quantum computation. One of the simplest examples of such a spin system is Kitaev’s toric code. Naaijkens made mathematically rigorous the treatment of toric code on an infinite planar lattice (the thermodynamic limit), using an operator algebraic approach via algebraic quantum field theory. We adapt his methods to study the case of toric code with gapped boundary. In particular, we recover the condensation results described in Kitaev and Kong and show that the boundary theory is a module tensor category over the bulk, as expected.

Arrow of Time and Quantum Physics

Based on the hypothesis that the (non-reversible) arrow of time is intrinsic in any system, no matter how small, the consequences are discussed. Within the framework of local quantum physics it is shown how such a semi-group action of time can consistently be extended to that of the group of spacetime translations in Minkowski space. In presence of massless excitations, however, there arise ambiguities in the theoretical extensions of the time translations to the past. The corresponding loss of quantum information on states upon time is determined. Finally, it is explained how the description of operations in classical terms combined with constraints imposed by the arrow of time leads to a quantum theoretical framework. These results suggest that the arrow of time is fundamental in nature and not merely a consequence of statistical effects on which the Second Law is based.

The Quantum Yang–Mills Theory

In axiomatic quantum field theory, the postulate of the uniqueness of the vacuum (a pure vacuum state) is independent from the other axioms and equivalent to the cluster decomposition property. The latter, however, implies a Coulomb or Yukawa attenuation of the interactions at growing distances and hence cannot accommodate the confining properties of the strong interaction. Thesolution of the Yang–Mills quantum theory given previously uses an auxiliary field to incorporate Gauss’s law and demonstrates the existence of two separate vacua, the perturbative and the confining vacuum, therefore resulting in a mixed vacuum state, deriving confinement, as well as the related, expected properties of the strong interaction. The existence of multiple vacua is, in fact, expected by the axiomatic, algebraic quantum field theory, via the decomposition of the vacuum state to eigenspaces of the auxiliary field. The general vacuum state is a mixed quantum state, and the cluster decomposition property does not hold. Because of the energy density difference between the two vacua, the physics of the strong interactions does not admit a Lagrangian description. I clarify the above remarks related to the previous solution of the Yang–Mills interaction and conclude with some discussion a criticism of a related mathematical problem and some tentative comments regarding the spin-2 case.

An Algebraic QFT Approach to the Wetterich Equation on Lorentzian Manifolds

We discuss the scaling of the effective action for the interacting scalar quantum field theory on generic spacetimes with Lorentzian signature and in a generic state (including vacuum and thermal states, if they exist). This is done constructing a flow equation, which is very close to the renown Wetterich equation, by means of techniques recently developed in the realm of perturbative Algebraic Quantum Field theory (pAQFT). The key ingredient that allows one to obtain an equation which is meaningful on generic Lorentzian backgrounds is the use of a local regulator, which keeps the theory covariant. As a proof of concept, the developed methods are used to show that non-trivial fixed points arise in quantum field theories in a thermal state and in the case of quantum fields in the Bunch–Davies state on the de Sitter spacetime.

The Linear CS/WZW Bulk/Boundary System in AQFT

This paper constructs in the framework of algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) the linear Chern–Simons/Wess–Zumino–Witten system on a class of 3-manifolds M whose boundary ∂M\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\partial M$$\\end{document} is endowed with a Lorentzian metric. It is proven that this AQFT is equivalent to a dimensionally reduced AQFT on a 2-dimensional manifold B, whose restriction to the 1-dimensional boundary ∂B\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\partial B$$\\end{document} is weakly equivalent to a chiral free boson.

Paracausal deformations of Lorentzian metrics and Møller isomorphisms in algebraic quantum field theory

Given a pair of normally hyperbolic operators over (possibnly different) globally hyperbolic spacetimes on a given smooth manifold, the existence of a geometric isomorphism, called Møller operator, between the space of solutions is studied. This is achieved by exploiting a new equivalence relation in the space of globally hyperbolic metrics, called paracausal relation. In particular, it is shown that the Møller operator associated to a pair of paracausally related metrics and normally hyperbolic operators also intertwines the respective causal propagators of the normally hyperbolic operators and it preserves the natural symplectic forms on the space of (smooth) initial data. Finally, the Møller map is lifted to a *-isomorphism between (generally off-shell) CCR-algebras. It is shown that the Wave Front set of a Hadamard bidistribution (and of a Hadamard state in particular) is preserved by the pull-back action of this *-isomorphism.

Implications of a matter-antimatter mass asymmetry in Penning-trap experiments

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, being a local, unitary and Lorentz-invariant quantum field theory, remains symmetric under the combined action of Charge, Parity, and Time Reversal (CPT) symmetry. This automatically implies that fundamental properties of particles and antiparticles should be equal in magnitude. These fundamental tenets of the CPT principle have been put to stringent tests in recent Penning-trap experiments, where the matter-antimatter mass asymmetry has been measured. In light of these recent advances, we compare the bounds arising on CPT invariance from kaon systems with those from Penning-trap experiments. Using a simple yet powerful argument of mass decomposition of hadrons, we show that bounds on quark-antiquark mass differences from kaon oscillations are way beyond the reach of Penning-trap experiments. We lay out a roadmap to discuss possible reformulations of our understanding of the SM in the case of a discovery of CPT violation by these precision experiments.

Modular Structure and Inclusions of Twisted Araki-Woods Algebras

In the general setting of twisted second quantization (including Bose/Fermi second quantization, S-symmetric Fock spaces, and full Fock spaces from free probability as special cases), von Neumann algebras on twisted Fock spaces are analyzed. These twisted Araki-Woods algebras mathcal {L}_{T}(H) depend on the twist operator T and a standard subspace H in the one-particle space. Under a compatibility assumption on T and H, it is proven that the Fock vacuum is cyclic and separating for mathcal {L}_{T}(H) if and only if T satisfies a standard subspace version of crossing symmetry and the Yang-Baxter equation (braid equation). In this case, the Tomita-Takesaki modular data are explicitly determined. Inclusions mathcal {L}_{T}(K)subset mathcal {L}_{T}(H) of twisted Araki-Woods algebras are analyzed in two cases: If the inclusion is half-sided modular and the twist satisfies a norm bound, it is shown to be singular. If the inclusion of underlying standard subspaces Ksubset H satisfies an L^2-nuclearity condition, mathcal {L}_{T}(K)subset mathcal {L}_{T}(H) has type III relative commutant for suitable twists T. Applications of these results to localization of observables in algebraic quantum field theory are discussed.