Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field

We analyze the smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a quantized massless scalar field in (3+1)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, as a model for the breakdown of correlations that has been proposed to occur at the horizon of an evaporating black hole. The creation is implemented by a ti...

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Main Authors: Zhou, L.J., Carrington, Margaret E., Kunstatter, Gabor, Louko, Jorma
Format: Article
Published: American Physical Society 2017
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43837/
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author Zhou, L.J.
Carrington, Margaret E.
Kunstatter, Gabor
Louko, Jorma
author_facet Zhou, L.J.
Carrington, Margaret E.
Kunstatter, Gabor
Louko, Jorma
author_sort Zhou, L.J.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description We analyze the smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a quantized massless scalar field in (3+1)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, as a model for the breakdown of correlations that has been proposed to occur at the horizon of an evaporating black hole. The creation is implemented by a time-dependent self-adjointness parameter at the excised spatial origin. In a smooth creation, the renormalized energy density <T00> is well defined away from the source, but it is unbounded both above and below: the outgoing pulse contains an infinite negative energy, while a cloud of infinite positive energy lingers near the fully-formed source. In the sharp creation limit, <T00> diverges everywhere in the timelike future of the creation event, and so does the response of an Unruh-DeWitt detector that operates in the timelike future of the creation event. The source creation is significantly more singular than the corresponding process in 1 + 1 dimensions, analyzed previously, and it may be sufficiently singular to break quantum correlations as proposed in a black hole spacetime.
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spelling nottingham-438372024-08-15T15:22:26Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43837/ Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field Zhou, L.J. Carrington, Margaret E. Kunstatter, Gabor Louko, Jorma We analyze the smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a quantized massless scalar field in (3+1)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, as a model for the breakdown of correlations that has been proposed to occur at the horizon of an evaporating black hole. The creation is implemented by a time-dependent self-adjointness parameter at the excised spatial origin. In a smooth creation, the renormalized energy density <T00> is well defined away from the source, but it is unbounded both above and below: the outgoing pulse contains an infinite negative energy, while a cloud of infinite positive energy lingers near the fully-formed source. In the sharp creation limit, <T00> diverges everywhere in the timelike future of the creation event, and so does the response of an Unruh-DeWitt detector that operates in the timelike future of the creation event. The source creation is significantly more singular than the corresponding process in 1 + 1 dimensions, analyzed previously, and it may be sufficiently singular to break quantum correlations as proposed in a black hole spacetime. American Physical Society 2017-04-15 Article PeerReviewed Zhou, L.J., Carrington, Margaret E., Kunstatter, Gabor and Louko, Jorma (2017) Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field. Physical Review D, 95 (8). 085007. ISSN 2470-0029 https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.95.085007 doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.085007 doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.085007
spellingShingle Zhou, L.J.
Carrington, Margaret E.
Kunstatter, Gabor
Louko, Jorma
Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
title Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
title_full Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
title_fullStr Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
title_full_unstemmed Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
title_short Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
title_sort smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a (3+1)-dimensional quantum field
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43837/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43837/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43837/