Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology
Abstract We revisit the question of frame equivalence in Quantum Field Theory in the presence of gravity, a situation of relevance for theories aiming to describe the early Universe dynamics and Inflation in particular. We show that in those cases, the path integral measure must be carefully defined...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2019-07-01
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Series: | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7070-3 |
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author | Kevin Falls Mario Herrero-Valea |
author_facet | Kevin Falls Mario Herrero-Valea |
author_sort | Kevin Falls |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Abstract We revisit the question of frame equivalence in Quantum Field Theory in the presence of gravity, a situation of relevance for theories aiming to describe the early Universe dynamics and Inflation in particular. We show that in those cases, the path integral measure must be carefully defined and that the requirement of diffeomorphism invariance forces it to depend non-trivially on the fields. As a consequence, the measure will transform also non-trivially between different frames and it will induce a new finite contribution to the Quantum Effective Action that we name frame discriminant. This new contribution must be taken into account in order to assess the dynamics and physical consequences of a given theory. We apply our result to scalar-tensor theories described in the Einstein and Jordan frame, where we find that the frame discriminant can be thought as inducing a scale-invariant regularization scheme in the Jordan frame. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-22T02:36:37Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-4c2e9ec0eda84ccbbb0acb5aa7bf28cc |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1434-6044 1434-6052 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-22T02:36:37Z |
publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
publisher | SpringerOpen |
record_format | Article |
series | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
spelling | doaj.art-4c2e9ec0eda84ccbbb0acb5aa7bf28cc2022-12-21T18:41:44ZengSpringerOpenEuropean Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields1434-60441434-60522019-07-0179711810.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7070-3Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmologyKevin Falls0Mario Herrero-Valea1Scuola Internazionale di Studi Superiori Avanzati (SISSA)Institute of Physics, LPPC École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneAbstract We revisit the question of frame equivalence in Quantum Field Theory in the presence of gravity, a situation of relevance for theories aiming to describe the early Universe dynamics and Inflation in particular. We show that in those cases, the path integral measure must be carefully defined and that the requirement of diffeomorphism invariance forces it to depend non-trivially on the fields. As a consequence, the measure will transform also non-trivially between different frames and it will induce a new finite contribution to the Quantum Effective Action that we name frame discriminant. This new contribution must be taken into account in order to assess the dynamics and physical consequences of a given theory. We apply our result to scalar-tensor theories described in the Einstein and Jordan frame, where we find that the frame discriminant can be thought as inducing a scale-invariant regularization scheme in the Jordan frame.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7070-3 |
spellingShingle | Kevin Falls Mario Herrero-Valea Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
title | Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology |
title_full | Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology |
title_fullStr | Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology |
title_full_unstemmed | Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology |
title_short | Frame (in)equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology |
title_sort | frame in equivalence in quantum field theory and cosmology |
url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7070-3 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kevinfalls frameinequivalenceinquantumfieldtheoryandcosmology AT marioherrerovalea frameinequivalenceinquantumfieldtheoryandcosmology |