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arXiv:math-ph/9805013 · Journal of Mathematical Physics

Modular groups of quantum fields in thermal states

H. J. Borchers, Jakob Yngvason

Published Feb 1, 1999• 68 citations
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Abstract

For a quantum field in a thermal equilibrium state we discuss the group generated by time translations and the modular action associated with an algebra invariant under half-sided translations. The modular flows corresponding to the algebras of the forward light cone and a space-like wedge admit a simple geometric description in two-dimensional models that factorize in light-cone coordinates. At large distances from the domain boundary compared to the inverse temperature, the flow pattern is essentially the same as time translations, whereas the zero temperature results are approximately reproduced close to the edge of the wedge and the apex of the cone. For each domain there is also a one-parameter group with a positive generator, for which the thermal state is a ground state. Formally, this may be regarded as a certain converse of the Unruh effect.

DOI
10.1063/1.532678

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For a quantum field in a thermal equilibrium state we discuss the group generated by time translations and the modular action associated with an algebra invariant under half-sided translations. The modular flows corresponding to the algebras of the forward light cone and a space-like wedge admit a simple geometric description in two-dimensional models that factorize in light-cone coordinates. At large distances from the domain boundary compared to the inverse temperature, the flow pattern is essentially the same as time translations, whereas the zero temperature results are approximately reproduced close to the edge of the wedge and the apex of the cone. For each domain there is also a one-parameter group with a positive generator, for which the thermal state is a ground state. Formally, this may be regarded as a certain converse of the Unruh effect.
A massless scalar field in two spacetime dimensions splits into two independent sectors of left and right-moving modes on the light cone. At the quantum level, these two sectors carry a representation of the group of affine transformations of the real line, with translations corresponding to transformations generated by light-cone momenta and dilations given by light-cone Rindler momenta formed by a linear combination of generators of boosts and dilations. One-particle states for inertial observers are eigenvectors of translation generators belonging to irreducible representations of the affine group. Rindler one-particle states are related to eigenfunctions of the generator of dilations. We show that simple manipulations connecting these two representations involving the Mellin transform can be used to derive the thermal spectrum of Rindler particles observed by an accelerated observer. Beyond providing a representation-theoretic basis for vacuum thermal effects, our results suggest that analogous phenomena may arise in any quantum system admitting realizations of translation and dilation eigenstates.
We develop a group-theoretic interpretation of the Unruh effect based on affine symmetry on a light ray and relate it to modular theory. For a massless scalar field in two spacetime dimensions inertial and uniformly accelerated observers select two different flows within the same chiral one-particle structure, respectively, null translations and dilations. Minkowski modes are adapted to translations, while Rindler modes are adapted to dilations, with the Mellin transform providing the natural bridge between them. When a Minkowski positive-frequency mode is restricted to a single Rindler wedge, its comparison with Rindler modes is non-unitary within the positive-frequency sector. Modular theory gives the corresponding operator-algebraic interpretation: on the horizon the modular flow of the half-line algebra is implemented by dilations, and the restricted vacuum satisfies the KMS condition. The affine group thus appears as the minimal symmetry structure underlying thermality on the Rindler horizon.
Form factor sequences of an integrable QFT can be defined axiomatically as solutions of a system of recursive functional equations, known as "form factor equations". We show that their solution can be replaced with the study of the representation theory of a novel algebra F(S). It is associated with a given two-particle S-matrix and has the following features: (i) It contains a double TTS algebra as a subalgebra. (ii) Form factors arise as thermal vector states over F(S) of temperature 1=2ß. The thermal ground states are in correspondence to the local operators of the QFT. (iii) The underlying `finite temperature structure' is indirectly related to the "Unruh effect" in Rindler spacetime. In F(S) it is manifest through modular structures (j; ffi) in the sense of algebraic QFT, which can be implemented explicitly in terms of the TTS generators. 1. Introduction and survey The form factor approach to integrable quantum field theories (QFTs) has several remarkable features. First it yiel...
Padmanabhan and Kolekar had demonstrated the phenomenon of recursive thermality in two dimensional free field theories where the Rindler vacuum appears thermal to an observer accelerated with respect to the Rindler observer. We study the same construction at an algebraic level for conformal field theories. At each step, a parent wedge is conformally mapped to a reference Minkowski spacetime, where a new right Rindler wedge and its left sibling are selected. We illustrate that under the Bisognano--Wichmann property, thermality holds at every generation: the state associated with a parent wedge becomes a KMS state when restricted to its right child. Further, using the modular structure of the wedge and its causal sibling, we identify the sibling algebra with the modular commutant and derive the corresponding recursive modular flow explicitly.
A bstract The local two-dimensional Poincaré algebra near the horizon of an eternal AdS black hole, or in proximity to any bifurcate Killing horizon, is generated by the Killing flow and outward null translations on the horizon. In holography, this local Poincaré algebra is reflected as a pair of unitary flows in the boundary Hilbert space whose generators under modular flow grow and decay exponentially with a maximal Lyapunov exponent. This is a universal feature of many geometric vacua of quantum gravity. To explain this universality, we show that a two-dimensional Poincaré algebra emerges in any quantum system that has von Neumann subalgebras associated with half-infinite modular time intervals (modular future and past subalgebras) in a limit analogous to the near-horizon limit. In ergodic theory, quantum dynamical systems with future or past algebras are called quantum K-systems. The surprising statement is that modular K-systems are always maximally chaotic. Interacting quantum systems in the thermodynamic limit and large N theories above the Hawking-Page phase transition are examples of physical theories with future/past subalgebras. We prove that the existence of (modular) future/past von Neumann subalgebras also implies a second law of (modular) thermodynamics and the exponential decay of (modular) correlators. We generalize our results from the modular flow to any dynamical flow with a positive generator and interpret the positivity condition as quantum detailed balance.
A bstract Modular flows probe important aspects of the entanglement structures, especially those of QFTs, in a dynamical framework. Despite the expected non-local nature in the general cases, the majority of explicitly understood examples feature local space-time trajectories under modular flows. In this work, we study a particular class of non-local modular flows. They are associated with the relativistic vacuum state and sub-regions whose boundaries lie on a planar null-surface. They satisfy a remarkable algebraic property known as the half-sided modular inclusion, and as a result the modular Hamiltonians are exactly known in terms of the stress tensor operators. To be explicit, we focus on the simplest QFT of a massive or massless free scalar in 1 + 2 dimensions. We obtain explicit expressions for the generators. They can be separated into a sum of local and non-local terms showing certain universal pattern. The preservation of von Neumann algebra under modular flow works in a subtle way for the non-local terms. We derive a differential-integral equation for the finite modular flow, which can be analyzed in perturbation theory of small distance deviating from the entanglement boundary, and re-summation can be performed in appropriate limits. Comparison with the general expectation of modular flows in such limits are discussed.