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Newsletter of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy

How is Quantum Field Theory Possible

George W. Stickel, Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy

Published Jan 1, 1997• 1 citation
Publisher
DOI
10.5840/saap199725776

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We propose a reformulation of quantum field theory (QFT) as a relativistic statistical field theory. This rewriting embeds a collapse model within an interacting QFT and thus provides a possible solution to the measurement problem. Additionally, it relaxes structural constraints on standard QFTs and hence might open the way to future mathematically rigorous constructions as well as new numerical methods. Finally, because it shows that collapse models can be hidden within QFTs, this article calls for a reconsideration of the dynamical program, as a possible underpinning rather than as a modification of quantum theory.

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We present a formulation of quantum field theory based entirely on real numbers, which we call real quantum field theory (RQFT). The construction is obtained from the standard complex-number formulation by replacing the imaginary unit i with a matrix J throughout all formulas. Here J is the real 2x2 matrix satisfying the condition J^2=-1. This extends the recently developed formulation of real quantum mechanics based on the real Kähler space to systems with infinitely many degrees of freedom. As the basic example, we construct the RQFT for a scalar field. We define a field operator acting on the real Kähler analogue of the bosonic Fock space. This operator satisfies the Klein-Gordon equation and the J-form of canonical commutation relation. To construct the RQFT we develop the corresponding J-calculus. In particular, we introduce the direct and inverse J-Fourier transforms and the associated J-valued distributions. In RQFT, the usual unitarity condition for the complex S-matrix is replaced by the statement that the real scattering operator is both orthogonal and symplectic. The physical observables in RQFT coincide with those of ordinary QFT. Thus RQFT does not change the physical predictions of scalar QFT, but provides an equivalent formulation. We explore the possibility of purely real formulations of the Standard Model of elementary particles. We show that it does admit this formulation and the resulting theory has ortho-symplectic symmetry. The choice of the Standard Model as the testbed for exploring the possibility of purely real formulations is related with the fact it provides a realistic description of all known fundamental particles. The real formulation of the Standard Model naturally suggests a possible exit beyond the Standard Model. In particular, we consider the implications of breaking the J-symmetry as a marker for new physics.

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Because the subject of relativistic quantum field theory (QFT) contains all of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, we expect quantum field computation to contain (non-relativistic) quantum computation. Although we do not yet have a quantum theory of the gravitational field, and are far from a practical implementation of a quantum field computer, some pieces of the puzzle (without gravity) are now available. We consider a general model for computation with quantum field theory, and obtain some results for relativistic quantum computation. Moreover, it is possible to see new connections between principal models of computation, namely, computation over the continuum and computation over the integers (Turing computation). Thus we identify a basic problem in QFT, namely Wightman's computation problem for domains of holomorphy, which we call WHOLO. Inspired by the same analytic functions which are central to the famous CPT theorem of QFT, it is possible to obtain a computational complexity structure for QFT and shed new light on certain complexity classes for this problem WHOLO.

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We propose a reformulation of quantum field theory (QFT) as a relativistic statistical field theory. This rewriting embeds a collapse model within an interacting QFT and thus provides a possible solution to the measurement problem. Additionally, it relaxes structural constraints on standard QFTs and hence might open the way to future mathematically rigorous constructions as well as new numerical methods. Finally, because it shows that collapse models can be hidden within QFTs, this article calls for a reconsideration of the dynamical program, as a possible underpinning rather than as a modification of quantum theory.
We present a formulation of quantum field theory based entirely on real numbers, which we call real quantum field theory (RQFT). The construction is obtained from the standard complex-number formulation by replacing the imaginary unit i with a matrix J throughout all formulas. Here J is the real 2x2 matrix satisfying the condition J^2=-1. This extends the recently developed formulation of real quantum mechanics based on the real Kähler space to systems with infinitely many degrees of freedom. As the basic example, we construct the RQFT for a scalar field. We define a field operator acting on the real Kähler analogue of the bosonic Fock space. This operator satisfies the Klein-Gordon equation and the J-form of canonical commutation relation. To construct the RQFT we develop the corresponding J-calculus. In particular, we introduce the direct and inverse J-Fourier transforms and the associated J-valued distributions. In RQFT, the usual unitarity condition for the complex S-matrix is replaced by the statement that the real scattering operator is both orthogonal and symplectic. The physical observables in RQFT coincide with those of ordinary QFT. Thus RQFT does not change the physical predictions of scalar QFT, but provides an equivalent formulation. We explore the possibility of purely real formulations of the Standard Model of elementary particles. We show that it does admit this formulation and the resulting theory has ortho-symplectic symmetry. The choice of the Standard Model as the testbed for exploring the possibility of purely real formulations is related with the fact it provides a realistic description of all known fundamental particles. The real formulation of the Standard Model naturally suggests a possible exit beyond the Standard Model. In particular, we consider the implications of breaking the J-symmetry as a marker for new physics.
Because the subject of relativistic quantum field theory (QFT) contains all of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, we expect quantum field computation to contain (non-relativistic) quantum computation. Although we do not yet have a quantum theory of the gravitational field, and are far from a practical implementation of a quantum field computer, some pieces of the puzzle (without gravity) are now available. We consider a general model for computation with quantum field theory, and obtain some results for relativistic quantum computation. Moreover, it is possible to see new connections between principal models of computation, namely, computation over the continuum and computation over the integers (Turing computation). Thus we identify a basic problem in QFT, namely Wightman's computation problem for domains of holomorphy, which we call WHOLO. Inspired by the same analytic functions which are central to the famous CPT theorem of QFT, it is possible to obtain a computational complexity structure for QFT and shed new light on certain complexity classes for this problem WHOLO.