How unique is the expected stress-energy tensor of a massive scalar field?
Abstract
We show that the set of ambiguities in the renormalized expected stress-energy tensor allowed by the Wald axioms is much larger for a massive scalar field (an infinite number of free parameters) than for a massless scalar field (two free parameters). We also use the closed-time-path effective action formalism of Schwinger to calculate the expected value of the stress-energy tensor in the incoming vacuum state, for a massive scalar field, on any spacetime which is a linear perturbation off Minkowski spacetime. This result generalizes an earlier result of Horowitz and also Jordan in the massless case, and can be used as a testbed for comparing different calculational methods.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.gr-qc/9807015,
title = {How unique is the expected stress-energy tensor of a massive scalar field?},
author = {Wolfgang Tichy and Eanna E. Flanagan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/9807015},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
17 pages, no figures, latex 2e, submitted to Phys Rev D. Minor modifications and references added