Vacuum polarization in curved spacetime

Thesis/Dissertation · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:6084966

Guy, R W

A necessary step in the process of understanding the quantum theory of gravity is the calculation of the stress-energy tensor of quantized fields in curved space-times. The determination of the stress tensor, a formally divergent object, is made possible in this dissertation by utilizing the zeta-function method of regularization and renormalization. By employing this scheme's representation of the renormalized effective action functional, an expression of the stress tensor for a massless, conformally invariant scalar field, first given by DeWitt, is derived. The form of the renormalized stress tensor is first tested in various examples of flat space-times. It is shown to vanish in Minkowski space and to yield the accepted value of the energy density in the Casimir effect. Next, the stress tensor is calculated in two space-times of constant curvature, the Einstein universe and the deSitter universe, and the results are shown to agree with those given by an expression of the stress tensor that is valid in conformally flat space-times. This work culminates in the determination of the stress tensor on the horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole. This is accomplished by approximating the radial part of the eigen-functions and the metric in the vicinity of the horizon. The stress tensor at this level approximation is found to be pure trace. The approximated forms of the Schwarzschild metric describes a conformally flat space-time that possesses horizons.

• Research Organization: Texas Univ., Austin (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6084966
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

657003* -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Relativity & Gravitation
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ENERGY
FIELD THEORIES
MATHEMATICAL SPACE
METRICS
MINKOWSKI SPACE
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
QUANTUM GRAVITY
SCALAR FIELDS
SCHWARZSCHILD METRIC
SPACE
SPACE-TIME
STRESSES
TENSORS
VACUUM POLARIZATION