PHYSICAL REVIEW D VOLUME 36, NUMBER 6 15 SEPTEMBER 1987

Vacuum state of complex scalar fields in SQ(2, 1)-invariant backgrounds

Roberto Floreanini and Luc Vinet*

Center for Theoretical Physics, Laboratory for Nuclear Science and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
(Received 4 May 1987)
We consider complex scalar fields in two-dimensional de Sitter space minimally coupled to an
SO(2, 1)-invariant Maxwell potential and construct an ultraviolet-finite functional representation of
the symmetry generators in the Schrodinger picture. We find that there is a unique vacuum state
which is strictly SO(2, 1) invariant.

INTRODUCTION is determined in Sec. V. As in the case of a pure de Sit-

ter background (no gauge field), a naive analysis of the
For fields coupled to classical external time-dependent problem leads to the conclusion that the condition of
(gauge and/or gravitational) backgrounds the concept of SO(2, 1)-invariance leaves a parameter dependence for
an energy ground state is not applicable; the Hamiltoni- the vacua. We shall see that with respect to our intrinsi-
an is in fact time dependent. Nevertheless, when non- cally defined generators, only one specific value of the
trivial symmetries are present, the vacua can be defined parameters gives an invariant state; for other values of
as the states which are invariant under the correspond- the parameters the states are only invariant up to an
ing transformations. To implement such a condition it infinite phase. Some useful results on Whittaker func-
is necessary to define the symmetry generators without tions which arise in our analysis are collected in the Ap-
reference to any particular field state. pendix.
A solution to this problem has been recently proposed
in the framework of the Schrodinger picture. ' The II. SO(2, 1)-INVARIANT MAXWELL POTENTIALS
idea is to construct functional field representations for IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL DE SITTER SPACE
the finite symmetry transformations; in the process one
arrives at a unique prescription to define intrinsically the Two-dimensional de Sitter space can be represented as
symmetry charges. the hyperboloid of revolution
This program has been explicitly carried out first in
the case of a massless free scalar field theory in two- (z ) —(z ) —(z ) =- A
(2. 1)
dimensional Minkowski space, whose symmetry group is
the infinite-parameter conformal group. ' As a by- embedded in three-dimensional Minkowski space with
product, the center (Schwinger term) in the correspond- metric
ing algebra has been unambiguously determined without
ds =(dz0)2 (dz ) —(dz ) (2.2)
reference to any preselected Fock state. Subsequently,
the same approach has been used to characterize the Standard coordinates which cover half of the space
vacuum state for a free, neutral scalar field in two- (z +z & 0) are given by
dimensional de Sitter space. Here, we show that a simi-
lar analysis carries over to the case of a complex scalar zp= —sinhht+ —e x,
1 ht 2
z 1 =e ht x,
field in the presence of both the de Sitter gravitational h 2
(2. 3)
background and an SO(2, 1)-invariant Abelian gauge
z = —coshht ——
1 h
e x
field, i.e. , for scalar fields interacting with the most gen- h 2
eral SO(2, 1)-invariant background.
In Sec. II we obtain the most general U(1) gauge po- In these coordinates, the line element becomes
tentials in two-dimensional de Sitter space that are in- ~2 dt2 e2htdx 2
(2.4)
variant (up to gauge transformations) under the
isometrics of the space. In Sec. III we discuss the classi- It is convenient to introduce a conformal time
cal conservation laws that arise when a complex scalar
field in de Sitter space is minimally coupled to the t= —
h
e (2. 5)
SO(2, 1)-invariant potentials found in Sec. II. Using the
Schrodinger picture, we discuss in Sec. IV the implemen- such that
tation of the corresponding symmetries at the quantum
level. The necessary subtractions for the generators are ds = 2 2
(dt —dx ). (2.6)
provided, independently of any choice of a Fock basis,
by the requirement that the functional representation of From now on we shall work with (2.5) and drop the
the finite SO(2, 1) transformations have a well-defined ul- tilde.
traviolet limit. Finally, the vacuum state for the theory de Sitter space can also be viewed as the homogeneous

36 1731 1987 The American Physical Society

1732 ROBERTO FLOREANINI AND LUC VINET 36

space SO(2, 1)/SO(1, 1) with the group SO(2, 1) acting by ducing the angular coordinates (0, /3) through
left multiplication on the cosets. The problem of deter-
mining the U(1) gauge potentials which are invariant un-
der this group action is a special case of a more general
z = — h' —t +x = —sinh/3,
2~ h
problem whose solution is by now well known. '
Let H be some compact gauge group and A its Lie z = x = ——
1
sinO cosh/3, (2. 1 1)
algebra. Consider the homogeneous space G/Gp, where ht h
G is a Lie group and G13 one of its subgroups (we shall
denote by 9 and 511 the corresponding algebras); we want z = —
1
2t h'
+t 1 p —x p =—
1
h
cos9 cosh/),
to characterize the most general Yang-Mills potentials
on G /Gp that are invariant up to gauge transformations we may define sections of SO(2, 1)/SO(1, 1) ~(SO(2, 1) by
under the natural left action of G on the homogeneous
space. It is convenient to use a gauge-independent for- o(8, /3) =e 'e (2. 12)
mulation and to view the gauge potentials as pull-backs
under some choice of local sections of connection one- Then,
forms on H principal bundles P(G/G11, H) over G/G13. A =Xo. 'do. t3
—— sinh/3d9
A,
In this picture, we first need to classify those H bundles
~

over G/Gp which admit lifts of the G action on the base. 0

It turns out that these bundles Pz are in a one-to-one
=A, A,
(z') +(z )
(z dz —z dz ) .
correspondence with the classes of homomorphisms
A:Gp ~H. The invariant potentials will now be provid- (2.13)
ed by the connections on P~ that are (strictly) invariant Upon computing the field strength we find
under the lifted G action. The explicit expression for
these connections comprises the results of a theorem first
due to Wang. Let JM be the complement in 5 to the
P=dA = —dx 2
R, dt; (2. 14)

isotropy algebra Qp. With o. a local section of

hence, there is a gauge in which
G~G/Gp, let ~ =cop+co ~ stand for the pull-back un-
der o. of the Maurer-Cartan form on G. The invariant (2. 15)
gauge potentials are given by the following A-valued
one-forms on G /Gp ..
We shall remain with this choice of gauge for the
A = A, ~p+ NCg ]], (2.7) remainder of this paper.
Consider now the following SO(2, 1)-algebra genera-
where A, is the differential of A, and N is a map from
At to A such that @([X13 X„g ] ):
[ A (Xp ) N(X ~ ) ] with
tors:
—U]
0 E ~p and X g E JR.
For the special case in which we are interested,
P= U3
—, '
v'2 ' D =Uq, K= U3+U
v'2
(2. 16)
H =U(1), G =SO(2, 1), and G11 =SO(1, 1). The homomor- which satisfy the structure relations
phisms A:SO(1, 1)~U(1) are in correspondence with the
real numbers and since SO(2, 1) is simple, the only solu- [P, D]=P, [P, K]=D, [D, K]=K . (2. 17)
tion to the constraint N([X11,X 11 ])=0 is &=0. In con-
It is not dificult to check that in the regular representa-
clusion, the SO(2, 1)-invariant Maxwell potentials on de
Sitter space are simply proportional to the pull-back un- tion on functions g Tz, g H SO(2, 1), they ~ are
der sections o".SO(2, 1)/SO(1, 1) ~SO(2, 1) of the canonical represented by the vector fields
connection on SO(2, 1):
(2. 18)
cop& kER (2.8)
with
An explicit computation of cop in terms of the coordi-
nates (t, x) is therefore all that is left to do. To this end, fg = (0, 1) translations, (2. 19a)
let us consider the following basis for the algebra of
SO(2, 1): fto = (t, x ) dilations, (2. 19b)

0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 fg =(tx, '(t +x ))
—, special conformal transformations .
U&= 1 0 0 U2= 0 0 0 U3= 0 0 —1 (2. 19c)
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 These form a basis for the Killing vectors of the de Sit-
(2.9) ter metric (2.6). One can now explicitly verify the in-
variance of the gauge potential (2. 15) as its Lie deriva-
[Uz»U1] U3» [ 2» 3] U1» [U3»U1] U2 (2. 10) tives with respect to the above vector fields yield exact
forms, indeed we find that
Using (0, 0, 1/h) as a reference point on the de Sitter hy-
perboloid, the isotropy algebra is spanned by U&. Intro- L~ A =dpi', (2.20)
36 VACUUM STATE OF COMPLEX SCALAR FIELDS IN. .. 1733

with as seen in the previous section, the variation of the La-

— grangian under
p~ =pD 0 and p~ =At . (2.21)
III. CLASSICAL THEORY 5f 4 =f 'dA+ipf 4
The Lagrangian density for complex scalar fields with is a covariant divergence
mass m in a curved background and minimally coupled
to Maxwell potentials reads
5X=(f"&),p . (3.5)
From Noether's theorem, the following currents are co-
(3. 1)
conserved:
variantly
with D& — 8„+iA When g" is the de Sitter metric
„.
and A the potential given in (2. 15), this is the most gen- 8~f f (T"—+ A J") pf J"—; (3.6)
eral linear theory for scalar fields in two dimensions
which is invariant under the group SO(2, 1) (Ref. 3). the energy-momentum tensor
L possesses several symmetries which lead to various T""=(D"P)*D'P+(D (5)*D"P
conservation laws. Invariance under global gauge trans-
formations entails the covariant conservation of the elec- —4')*(D 0)™4*4]
g" [(D * (3.7)
tromagnetic current
J"=i [P*D "'P (D "P)*P],—J" „=0 . . (3.2) satisfies

metric satisfy
X» A„— :
Moreover, since the background

(BQ )A
&x,g„.=f„;.+f.;, =o—
+f B~„=B~f,
gauge potential and

(3.3a)
(3.3b)
Recalling now
metric, Eq. (2.6),
the corresponding
ling vector of Eq.
the explicit form of the de Sit ter
and of the gauge potential, Eq. (2. 15),
conserved charges [one for each Kil-
(2. 19)] read

Qf: f dx & —g df —f dx f rrrr* + P*'P' —i (P*P' P*'P ) + —

— —k + P*P +f '(7rP'+P "w* )

i pf (P*vr*—Prr) . . — (3.8)

The canonical momenta w and ~* are defined by d =a

— Qf+I Qf, HI =0
= . (3. 1 1)
sr= 6L , , 6L
(3.9)
Qf
5p 5p* All this holds at the classical level; the implementation
and differentation with respect to x is denoted by a of the symmetries at the quantum level requires some
prime. Using Poisson brackets one can verify that the care as we shall see in Sec. IV.
charges (3, 8) generate the transformation (3.4) and that
they satisfy the structure relations (2. 17). Finally, using IV. REPRESENTATION OF THE SYMMETRY
the explicit form of the Hamiltonian GENERATORS IN THE SCHRODINGER PICTURE
H= f dx re. *+/*'P' i (P*P' P*'P— )— — Quantization will be discussed in the Schrodinger pic-
ture. We shall use field states P) such that
~

2
(3.10) (4. 1)
with the functional 6 function represented by the func-
one can also check that ([, ] denotes Poisson brackets) tional integral

5(P, —Pz)= f 2)alla* exp i f dx Ia(x)[P, (x) —Pz(x)]+a*(x)[P*,(x) —Pz(x)]I

In this picture quantum states are described by wave functionals +(p, p*)—(p
operators 4, N and their conjugate momenta H, H are then realized as follows:
: ~
'P). The time-independent
(4.2)
field

5$(x)
(4.3)
1734 ROBERTO FLOREANINI AND LUC VINET 36

In field theory, polynomials in the canonical variables,

such as our symmetry generators (3.8), are not well
defined owing to ultraviolet divergences when field has a well-defined limit, allows then to define the renor-
operators are multipled at the same point. In order to malized generators as
obtain meaningful expressions, the charges first need to
be regularized Q ~Q,
for instance, by using point- :Q:= lim(Q —q ) . (4. 6)
R
splitting techniques. Then, before the regulators are re-
moved, the generators have to be renormalized. The corresponding renormalized representation func-
For
linear theories this can be achieved by subtractions. tionals,
ConventionaHy, one would normal order with respect to
a given Fock vacuum. Instead, to obtain an intrinsic
definition of our generators we shall adopt a different = lime "~R U (P, , P2;~),
procedure. ' R

Consider matrix elements for the finite transforma- are then free from ultraviolet singularities. Note that no
tions reference to a Fock vacuum is made.
Let us now apply this prescription to the charges at
= (d,
U'(y, , 4, ;r)— le-'~'l0, ) . (4.4) hand. The electric charge

They satisfy a functional Schrodinger-type equation Q, =i f dx[C& (x)II (x) —@(x)II(x)], (4.7)

is a perfectly well-defined operator and no subtraction is

'a~
UR g RUR (4.5a)
needed. Moreover, since Q is linear in the momenta, the
matrix elements for the finite transformations, solutions
with initial condition of Eq. (4.5), are given by 6 functions'
U'(p&, d 2., &) 1.=0=~(ki —4z) . (4. 5b) (~1 42 r) ~(e 01 02. ) (4.8)
Since Q can be renormalized by a subtraction, the We now turn to the de Sitter group generators. Intro-
ducing the notation
are confined to a phase, e
R
"
infinities that arise in U when the regulator is removed
. For simple systems it is k(x, y) =i5'(x —y), (4.9)
possible to determine this phase explicitly by solving Eq.
(4.5). Observing that the quantity the charges (3.8) can be rewritten as

——(kf + f k )+ —P. +
2

Q&
— f Iif II +4 kf k f @+i(4 kf 'Il —IIf 'k4) —ip&(4 II —411)
t2 h2

(4. 10)

We suppress the integration variables and adopt an obvi- true for the conformal generator, since special conformal
ous functional matrix notation, regarding f"(x) as the transformations correspond to translations in the invert-
kernels f"(x)6(x — y). In general, the previous charges ed coordinate system.
need to be regulated. This can be achieved by replacing According to our renormalization scheme, the sub-
in (4. 10) k by traction for the dilatation generator will be obtained by
examining the representation functional
——
AkA, (4. 1 1)
k~
U (PD&, P r2)=(P& e ~
Pz). Since QD is quadratic
~

with b, (x, y) a real, symmetric, well-behaved kernel, ap- in the canonical variables, UD must be a Gaussian in
proaching the 5 function in the local limit. As can be P&, P&, Pz, Pz. Taking into account that fact that QD is
shown by making the canonical transformation invariant under global gauge transformations, an ap-

rr = err, 11"=II'a, e=S-'a, e'=e'a-', (4. 12)

propriate ansatz for UD is thus

the resulting expression for the charges is equivalent to UD ( P &, Pp; 'r ) = + exp —f [P f & P )
one where all ambiguous products are point split. Our
next task is to determine the renormalizing subtraction.
We first observe that the momentum whose regular- P2 CP i+ Pz Dgz]—
ized form is
(4. 14)
P'=i f (e'k, lI' —llk, a ), (4.13)
Unitarity, i.e., UD(p~, pz, r) =[UD($2, $, ; —~)]*, implies
requires no subtraction, as is familiar. The same is also the constraints
36 VACUUM STATE OF COMPLEX SCALAR FIELDS IN. . . 1735

N(r) =N" ( —r), (4. 15a) for the Fourier components:

B(x,y;r) =B'(y, x; —r), (4. 15b)

i +p A (p, r) =t A (p, r)+i A (p, r) tp-
C(x, y;r) = C*(y, x; —r), (4. 15c)
av ap

D(x, y;r)=A*(y, x; —r) .

2
(4. 15d) + 2A.p — A, + h
The Schrodinger-type equation (4.5) produces the fol-
lowing set of differential equations for the unknown ker- (4. 18)
nels in (4. 14) [X(x,y) =—x5(x — y)]:
The method of characteristics allows for a straightfor-
. a ward solution. The integral curves of a/a~+pa/ap are
i
a7-
lnX=t trA, (4. 16a)
given by

= t A 2 —tk + 2A, k g —— ~~+

2
i A 2g
g'=pe (4. 19)
a7 h
Since the coefficients of the right-hand side of Eq. (4. 18)
do not depend on r, the r dependence in A(p, r) is all
—AXkg+ kgXA (4. 16b) contained in arbitrary functions of g, occurring as in-
tegration constants of the ordinary differential equation
.a obtained from Eq. (4.18) by dropping the symbol i)/Br.
i
a7-
B =tAB+kgXB, (4. 16c)
To solve the latter we use the substitution
. a —CXk~,
i C =tCA (4. 16d) A = ——p E
lnF; (4.20)
a~ t ap
. a the Riccati equation that governs the p evolution of A is
i D=tCB . (4. 16e)
a~ thus converted into the following equation for F:
We have not succeeded in explicitly solving these equa- d F m
tions. However, in order to determine the renormalizing 1—2A, 1
~p
h' F=O . (4.21)
subtraction for QD, we only need to identify the infinities d (tp)' (tp) (tp)'
that arise in UD when 6~6. As previously explained, Denoting by Sq „(tp) the phase of the Whittaker func-
these infinities are confined to the normalization factor N tion W;~ &( 2itp ), th— e general solution of (4.21) can be
in the form of a phase e . Now notice that Eq. written as (see the Appendix)
(4. 16a) relates N to A. In the local limit, the divergent
part of lnÃ, linear in ~, can thus be extracted from the F= [S~,„(tp)] '" c»[S~,„(tp)+9 (k)] (4.22)
~-independent divergent part of trA as 5~6. Our pro-
where
cedure for arriving at an expression for qD will be to re- 2
1/2
move the regulator first, to determine A (x,y;r) and to p= — — A. +
isolate its infinite part as x ~y after ~ has been contin-
4

ued to imaginary values w~ — i~.

Assuming A(x, y;r) diagonal in Fourier space, and y(g) is an arbitrary complex function of g' (a prime
always means derivative with respect to the arguinent).
dp (x —
—i'~'" A is then obtained from (4.20). The initial condition
A(x, y;r)=
2m
e «A
j
(p, r), (4. 17)
UD(gi, g2, r)~6(gi —Pz) requires that A behaves like
—i/t~ for small ~. Enforcing this constraint fixes the
Eq. (4. 16b), with 6=6, implies the following equation "integration constant" y and we finally get for A:

A (x, y;r) =i dp
2n
e
—i't'(x —«'p
)
Si'„(tp) —
Si. „(tp)
SI. „(tp c )to[ qS„(tp) Si „(tpe ')]- (4.23)

The other kernels can similarly be obtained: D is determined by unitarity [see Eq. (4. 15d)], while B and C are given
by

' [0' „(tp)O' „(tpe ')]'

B(x,y;r) = —C*(y, x, r) = —i f e '~I" «'pe (4.24)
sin[St „(tp) —Si „(tpe ')]

We can now obtain the renormalizing subtraction for A(x, y;r) as x -y. To this effect we continue r to imag-
QD using Eq. (4. 16a), i.e. , by computing the ultraviolet inary values and use the large-p asymptotic behavior of
divergence which occurs in the symmetric part of S&„(tp) given in the Appendix. We find that the sym-
1736 ROBERTO FLOREANINI AND LUC VINET 36

metric part 3, of A behaves like the finite part of the subtraction is arbitrary, it will be
determined in the next section by conservation require-
2
A, (x, y;r) — f 2' dJ — —
e i't'I(x ~') f p f
+2
fp f
t'h'
ments. Finally, note that (4.26) can be used for the
translation and conformal generators as well, since the
subtraction actually vanishes in these cases.
(4.25)
for x -y; this is then the renormalizing subtraction. The V. THE VACUUM STATE
renormalized generators can be written as"
Owing to the time dependence of the Hamiltonian
QI 6~5 (QI —qI )= lim
——lim
~5 (Qt
—trf qco ), (4.26) (3. 10), the Schrodinger equation does not separate in
b, time and it makes no sense to define the vacuum as the
with f & —hf b, and lowest-energy eigenfunction. It shall rather be defined as
1/2
a gaussian solution to the time-dependent Schrodinger
dp ip(x —y) equation, constrained to be invariant under transforma-
~m(x y) 2+ (4.27)
2' t2h tions corresponding to the SO(2, 1) symmetry group of
the theory.
Observe that co difT'ers only by finite terms from the ex- In keeping with the regularization of the symmetry
pression on the right-hand side of (4.25). At this point, generators, the regularized Schrodinger equation reads

i
at
%(p, p*;t)= f 5 6, +(5* kt,2 —2A. k~+-1 2 m
(5. 13

—2k ka+ —
We demand the vacuum to be charge neutral; thus a j2 ] k m 2
suitable ansatz for its wave functional is
at2
2E+ ka
t 2 + 2
E=O, (5.8)

(5.2) and translates (5.4) into

Substituting in (5. 1), we find that the covariance
Q(x, y;t) solves 1V=det 'E . (5.9)

i —A=A, —kg + kg —— m'

(5.3) Denoting again by
function
8z „(kt, t) the phase of the Whittaker

and that the renormalization factor N(t) satisfies 1/2

i—
2
. a
lnX=trA . (5.4) W;g„( 2ikt, t), p=—
4
at
To obtain solutions to (5.3) and (5.4) we impose the re-
quirement that 4' be "translation" invariant even in the
the solution to (5.8) can be cast in the following form:
presence of the regulator:
1/2
I"% =0. (5.5)
E=
1/2

This is possible because the regularized Hamiltonian kg8g „(tk~ )

commutes with P . Condition (5.5) reduces to
&( cos[8q „(kt, t ) —a(kq)] . (5. 10)
[k~, A]=0, (5.6)
implying that A is a function of the kernel k&. We now The integration constant a is complex and depends on
set k&, its imaginary part is given by

—
Q= —i a lnE .
at
(5.7)
r =tanh(lma) . (5. 1 1)
Various multiplicative constants in E have been adjusted
This converts the Riccati equation (5.3) once again into so that 2)P X)/*4*+ = 1. The covariance Sl = A~
f
a Whittaker equation +i&l, with Az I —&z I, is obtained through (5.7):

—k~ r8~ „(tkt, )

Q~ (5. 12a)
[8q „(tk& ) —g] [8z „(tkt, ) —7]
2 2 )
cos r+sin
(1 r) tan[8' „(tk— ~ )—
Qt —kg —8)'„(tkt,
'" )
+8I,'"„(tkt, )
X]
(5. 12b)
2 8~„(tkt, ) 1+r tan [8q„(tkt, ) —X]
36 VACUUM STATE OF COMPLEX SCALAR FIELDS IN. . . 1737

with 7=Rex.
To restrict 0 further we demand that the vacuum functional also be invariant under dilatations and special confor-
mal transformations. The action of the two corresponding generators on 4 is given by

(Qg qI—
)4=tr( f Q f t, —)4+ f dx dy P*(x)5gQ(x, y;t)P(y)%,
co (5. 13)

where

5IQ= f Qf—
Q+kt f kt, — (kt f—+f kg)+ —
t' k + h2 f +Qf'kt,
'Q
kt f— (5. 14)

Note that p& does not appear in 5IQ because II is invariant under global gauge transformations.
To control the singularities as the regulators are removed we consider the overlap of (5. 13) with the various states
of the Fock space built on %. This can be done systematically by examining the convolution of (Q&~ —qI )+ with

exp J* + *J 0", *;t

as repeated functional differentiation with respect to the sources J and J will yield the required matrix elements.
One obtains
'I tr(f ft, co + —
'5IQQg ')+ ' f I'Q~ 'I
(1 I Qt qI I
+)—
= exp '
—,
f J*QR Q —, —, 'oIQQtt (5. 15)

The first term in large parentheses, involving the trace,

is the diagonal matrix element (4 Q~ — qI 'P). The I I
( + QyI
—qp + ) =tr(f I
QR f ~~ +,'gy—Qg Qg —') .
remaining term generates the connected off-diagonal ma- (5. 19)
trix elements. When the regulator is removed
A priori, we would like to set the above expression
5IB& vanishes and the
above equation becomes
equal to zero, for all times. However, this is not possible
in the presence of the regulator, since the regulated
charges are not conserved relative to the regulated Ham- (+ Qf +&= f dxf'(» f IQR(p t) —~ ( lp I
)].
I I
2
iltonian 0 (5.20)
In general, the p integration diverges. However, for pre-
cisely one set of values for the parameters, that is
We shall therefore only demand that (5. 15) be zero in the r (k) =e(k), (5.21)
limit 5 —+5. In this limit and with
it converges [e(k)=sgnk]. Indeed, when b, ~5,
Qz(p;t)= p Oq„(tp), for r =e(k). Asymptotically,
Q(x, y;t )= f e '~' ~'Q(p;t), (5. 16)
we thus have
I I

the conditions 5ID 0, =0 and 5~K Q, =O, which guarantee I p I

—— e(p)+,
2lp t'h' ,
+«p m
I
—2

the vanishing of the off-diagonal matrix elements, imply

and apart from the second term which integrates to
a Q(p;t) a Q(p;t) zero, this matches the first two terms in the expansion of
' (5. 17)
t =p co ( p ). The compensation however, is not exact and
Bt p Bp p
I I

time-dependent term.
we are left with a nonvanishing
%'e thus realize that our renormalization does not
The above equation requires a to be of the form ' This prob-
preserve the conservation of the generators.
—k); (5. 18) lem can easily be fixed by effecting a complete subtrac-
a(k)=a+8(k)+a &(
tion through the definition
with 0 the standard step function and a+, a complex :QI lim [Qf «f& k& Q&„(tk~)], (5.22)
constants. This leaves the vacuum state depending on
I I

two complex parameters. Let us now look at the diago- which differs from Q~ of (4.26) only by finite terms.
nal part of (5. 15). From the cyclicity of the trace and In conclusion we have shown that the state with
the fact that kz, Qz, and AI all commute, it follows r =e(k) is completely invariant under SQ(2, 1) transfor
that mations
tr( f Qt + '6~Qt Q~
—,
') =0 .
:Qy: I
p & l. =,(k) (s.23)
Hence, The other states with r+e(k) satisfy
1738 ROBERTO FLOREANINI AND LUC VINET 36

—1]—(r —1) sin [8i „(tp) —X]

Qf: I
p &
= « f '(x) I p I
8i. &(pt)
,
[ e(p)r
1+(r 1)—sin [8i ~(tp) —X]
(5.24)

As already mentioned, the eigenvalue is nonzero only in Moreover, note that W, „(z)= W, „(z), as a conse-
the case of dilatations; it vanishes for translations be- quence of Kummer's relation %(a, c;z) =z' '(P(a — c
cause f
=0 and for conformal transformations because +1,2 —c;z). Therefore, when lr and z are purely imagi-
f is odd in x. When nonzero, however, the eigenvalue nary and p is either real or purely imaginary,
—z) can be obtained from W', „(z) by complex
is not only infrared divergent, but also ultraviolet diver- W „„(
gent owing to the p integral; moreover, it is time depen- conjugation. This is precisely the situation encountered
dent. Thus these vacua are only phase invariant, and an in the text; we shall fix our attention to this case and
infinite one-cocycle occurs. We should finally point out write: v=ik, z =2ix, with A. and x real.
that it is not possible to redefine the generators so that We can introduce the modulus and the phase of the
some other vacuum with r&e(k) becomes invariant. function W;z „(— 2ix):
The reason is that only finite redefinitions are permitted
at this stage and since the phase in (5.24) is infinite, it W;i „( )=Mi „(x)e
2ix— (A7a)
cannot be removed. and have
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS —iO (xj
W;) „(2ix)=M) „(x)e (A7b)
We thank Roman Jackiw for his kind interest and
helpful suggestions. This work was supported in part by Note that M i „( —x) =M, „(x), 8 . ( —x)
funds provided by the U. S. Department of Energy = —8i „(x). The general solution of
(D.O. E.) under Contract No. DE-AC02-76ER03069, the d2 ——p
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council 1—2g w=0, (A8)
(NSERC) of Canada, the Quebec Ministry of Education, dx x x
and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Rome, can then be written in the form
Italy.
w(x) =[8g „(x)]=' cos[8g„(x) —a], (A9)
APPENDIX
with a some complex integration constant. The func-
A standard form for the Whittaker equation is' tions Mi „(x) and 8q „(x) satisfy (a prime signifies
1 2 diff'erentiation with respect to x):
d w
dz 2 + —'+ —
z
+ —,
z
w=O, (A 1) 8' (x)M (x) =e (A10a)
1 —277Am(x j
with ~, p complex parameters. It can be transformed —2A, + „(x)— =0,
4
M j'„(x)+ 1 Mi '"
into the confluent hypergeometric equation x Mi „(x)
z
u
+(c —z) du
dz
—au =0, (A2) (A10b)
dx
8i'„(x )
by the substitution 8i „(x)+— 3
4
=1- 2A.x 4

2 8g „(x) 8I „(x)
w=z' e ' u, (A3)
(A10c)
a = ' —~+p,
—, c =1+2p . (A4)
The quantity e '
in (A10a) comes '
from the Wron-
Two solutions of Eq. (Al) are the so-called Whittaker skian (A6). The asymptotic expansions for large x of I I

functions: M, &(z), regular at the origin, and W', &(z), M) z (x ) and 8), „(x) can be obtained from the corre-
regular at infinity. In terms of the confluent hyper- sponding expansion for the Whittaker functions. ' The
geometric functions 4(a, c;z ) and )I'(a, c;z): first terms are given by

M „(z)=e ' z' N(a, c;z), (A5a) k(1 —v)

8). p (x)-x —Xln2 x + +0
W, „(z)=e ' z' 'I'(ac;z) .
, I I

2x 4x x
(Asb)
Out of these two functions one can obtain different com- (A 1 1)
plete sets of solutions for Eq. (A 1 ). In particular, —(nA/2)e(x) 3A, +
+2v
W„&(z) and — W,
&( z) are independent solutions for ( ) 1 + 2x + +g
,
1

x
any value of ~ and p, since their Wronskian is given by'
d d (A12)
W, „(z) W', „(—z) —W, „( —z) W, „(x)
where v=p +A, —— '.
l 7TICE'( IIIlZ )
(A6) Finally, notice that in the case A, =O, the Whittaker
36 VACUUM STATE OF COMPLEX SCALAR FIELDS IN. . . 1739

functions reduce to Bessel functions. In particular while

1/2
2
1/2
Mo „(x) and C)o , P (x) ———
„(—2ix) =
4 s

Wo i(N/2+1/4)~(1)( )
VTX 2
)LI, 7

are the modulus and phase of the Hankel functions. '

*Permanent address: Laboratoire de Physique Nucleaire,
Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C
3 J7.
'R. Floreanini and R Jackiw, Phys. Lett. 175B, 428 (1986); R.
Floreanini, Ann. Phys. (N. Y.) (to be published); R. Jackiw,
in Proceedings of the Superfield Workshop, Vancouver, 1986
(unpublished). Functional representations for fermionic sys-
tems have been recently obtained in R. Floreanini and R.
Jackiw, MIT Report No. CTP 1468 1987 (unpublished).
~R. Floreanini, C. Hill, and R. Jackiw, Ann. Phys. (N. Y.) 175,
354 (1987).
L. Vinet, in Group Theoretical Methods in Physics, edited by
K. B. Wolf (Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 135) (Springer,
Berlin, 1980},p. 191.
4J. Harnad, S. Shnider, and L. Vinet, J. Math. Phys. 21, 2719
(1980). See also P. Forgacs and N. Manton, Commun. Math.
)oHad we taken a dilferent ordering in the definition of Q„an
infinite phase would have occurred in U„ in this case the
prescribed subtraction gives back (4.7) and (4.8).
~~The 6 dependence of the subtraction in (4.26) comes from
the H — II term in the charges (4. 10), which after the intro-
duction of the regulator 6 and the canonical transformation
(4. 12) gets regularized precisely as f
IIf~&II
Remember that matrix elements of conserved charges on
states that solve the Schrodinger equation are time indepen-
dent.
We are using the conventions and the notations of Higher
Transcendental Functions (Bateman Manuscript Project),
edited by A. Erdelyi (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1953), Vol.
I, Chap. VI.
' The complex variable z is always assumed to take its princi-
pal value, i.e. , z=z e' "s' with —)r & argz & vr. This condi-
~ ~

Phys. 72, 15 (1980). tion, which is necessary because %(a, c;z) is not a uniform
5For a review see R. Jackiw, Acta Phys. Austriaca Suppl. function, causes the occurrence of terms such as (A6) For ~

XXII, 383 (1980). details, see the reference in the previous note and F. Tri-
6H. C. Wang, Nagoya Math. J. 13, 1 (1958). comi, Funzioni Ipergeometriche Conguenti (Edizioni
70n the function P(t, x), Ts acts as (Tsg)(t, x)=(e P)(t, x) Cremonese, Rome, 1954).
=t((g '(t, x)), where X is an element of the algebra generat- )sE. Whittaker and Cs. Watson, A Course of Modern Analysis
ed by (2. 18). (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1927).
8R. Jackiw and N. Manton, Ann. Phys. (N. Y.) 127, 257 (1980). (6Handbook of Mathematical Functions, edited by M.

tors P) ~

operators 8:—
~

:
Strickly speaking, we should write the field states ()) ) as vec-

[6—
(II, N)
~

(()* ) belonging to a direct product space and the

(II, (I) )] as GX1 [1XG ].
Abramowitz and I. Stegun (U. S. Natl. Bur. Stand. Appl.
Math. Ser. No. 55) (U. S. GPO. Washington, D.C. , 1964).