Relativistic quantum theories are usually thought of as being quantum field theories, but this is not the only possibility. Here, we consider relativistic quantum theories with a fixed number of particles that interact neither through potentials nor through exchange of bosons. Instead, the interaction can occur directly along light cones, in a way similar to the Wheeler-Feynman formulation of classical electrodynamics. For two particles, the wave function is here of the form ψ(x1, x2), where x1 and x2 are spacetime points. Specifically, we consider a natural class of covariant equations governing the time evolution of ψ involving integration over light cones or even more general spacetime regions. It is not obvious, however, whether these equations possess a unique solution for every initial datum. We prove for Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetimes that in the case of purely retarded interactions, there does, in fact, exist a unique solution for every datum on the initial hypersurface. The proof is based on carrying over similar results for a Minkowski half-space (i.e., the future of a spacelike hyperplane) to curved spacetime. Furthermore, we show that also in the case of time-symmetric interactions and for spacetimes with both a Big Bang and a Big Crunch, solutions do exist. However, initial data are then not appropriate anymore; the solution space gets parametrized in a different way.
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April 2019
Research Article|
April 26 2019
Interacting relativistic quantum dynamics of two particles on spacetimes with a Big Bang singularity
Matthias Lienert
;
Matthias Lienert
a)
Fachbereich Mathematik, Eberhard-Karls-Universität
, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Roderich Tumulka
Roderich Tumulka
b)
Fachbereich Mathematik, Eberhard-Karls-Universität
, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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J. Math. Phys. 60, 042302 (2019)
Article history
Received:
October 26 2018
Accepted:
April 03 2019
Citation
Matthias Lienert, Roderich Tumulka; Interacting relativistic quantum dynamics of two particles on spacetimes with a Big Bang singularity. J. Math. Phys. 1 April 2019; 60 (4): 042302. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5078579
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