Quantum fields of nonzero spin in De Sitter spacetime

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5145098

Higuchi, A

The massive spin-2 field theory in de Sitter spacetime is studied. It is found that the values of (mass){sup 2} between 0 (linearized gravity) and (2/3){times}(cosmological constant) are forbidden due to the appearance of negative-norm states. The massless limit of this theory is found to be physically identical with the massless theory at the tree level unlike its counterpart in flat spacetime. Physical infrared divergences in the massless propagator are shown to be absent. The symmetric tensor spherical harmonics (STSH's) on the N-sphere (S{sup N}) are studied. Then the symmetric traceless and divergence-free tensor eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator in N-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, which are obtained by the analytic continuation of STSH's on S{sup N}, are studied and the conditions for them to form unitary representations of the de Sitter group SO(N,1) are derived. This analysis provides the group theoretical explanation of the forbidden mass range for the spin-2 field mentioned above. The quantization of the fields of spin 0 and 1 inside the cosmological event horizon is studied by using the static metric. Then the response of these fields to monochromatic multipole sources in the vacuum defined over the expanding half of de Sitter spacetime is calculated. It is found to be the same as that in thermal equilibrium in the static coordinate system, as expected from other works. Finally the implication of linearization instability for the quantum field theory in de Sitter spacetime is reviewed.

• Research Organization: Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5145098
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640100 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology
657002* -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Classical & Quantum Mechanics
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CALCULATION METHODS
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
DE SITTER GROUP
FIELD THEORIES
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
LIE GROUPS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
SPHERICAL HARMONICS METHOD
SYMMETRY GROUPS