Twisted Quantum Fields in a Curved Space-Time

Dec, 1977
39 pages
Published in:
  • Proc.Roy.Soc.Lond.A 362 (1978) 383-404
  • Published: Aug 22, 1978
Report number:
  • ICTP-77-78-3

Citations per year

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Abstract:
Non-trivial space-time topology leads to the possibility of twisted fields viewed as cross sections of non-product vector bundles. For globally hyperbolic space-times twisted real and complex scalar fields are especially interesting, and are in one-to-one correspondence with certain groups determined by the space-time topology. Twisted fields can be quantized and lead to results differing from the usual ones. For example, spontaneous symmetry breaking may be suppressed and regularized vacuum self-energies take on different values. Sets of twisted fields may be collected together into a type of super-multiplet whose size is determined by the space-time topology.