English

Excitability in quantum field theory

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-04-23 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Mathematical Physics math.MP Operator Algebras

Abstract

In quantum field theory, it is not always possible to excite one state out of another using only local operators. This paper establishes abstract algebraic criteria for (local) excitability in general quantum theories, and computes these criteria explicitly for zero-mean Gaussian states in (generalized) free field theories. We find that in this context, due to the special nature of Gaussian states, one-way excitability always implies two-way excitability, and our results generalize the "quasiequivalence theorems" of Powers, Stormer, van Daele, Araki, and Yamagami. A key role in our proof is played by the information-theoretic tool of canonical purification. In appendices, we provide a pedagogical introduction to the algebraic formulation of (generalized) free field theory.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.19861,
  title  = {Excitability in quantum field theory},
  author = {Jacqueline Caminiti and Federico Capeccia and Jonathan Sorce},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.19861},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

72 pages + appendices

R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:29:07.816Z