A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Normalizing Fock space states in static spacetimes
Authors: Huhtala, Jesse; Vilja, Iiro
Publisher: Academic Press
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Annals of Physics
Article number: 170326
Volume: 485
ISSN: 0003-4916
eISSN: 1096-035X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2025.170326
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2025.170326
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508389240
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
In quantum field theory, sharp momentum states have to be normalized to be in Fock space. We investigate two different normalization schemes: box normalization and wave packets. These methods are equivalent in flat spacetimes, but turn out to produce different results in curved spacetimes, specifically in those that break translation invariance. This means that scattering processes have to be defined in relation to the normalization scheme used, rather than being independent of it as is the case in flat spacetime. We prove this and provide an illustrative example.
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