A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Normalizing Fock space states in static spacetimes




AuthorsHuhtala, Jesse; Vilja, Iiro

PublisherAcademic Press

Publication year2026

Journal: Annals of Physics

Article number170326

Volume485

ISSN0003-4916

eISSN1096-035X

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2025.170326

Publication's open availability at the time of reportingOpen 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 addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508389240

Self-archived copy's licenceCC BY

Self-archived copy's versionPublisher`s PDF


Abstract

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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Last updated on 21/01/2026 11:13:58 AM