Quantum field theory on curved space times

July 1 - August 31, 2002


Organizers:  K. Fredenhagen  fredenha@x4u2.desy.de
R. Wald rmwa@midway.uchicago.edu
J. Yngvason yngvason@ap.univie.ac.at

The main goal of this program is to bring together researchers with expertise in general relativity and researchers with expertise in mathematical aspects of quantum field theory, in order to address some problems of mutual interest in quantum field theory in curved spacetime. A great deal of progress has been made in recent years in characterizing the ``ultraviolet divergences'' of quantum fields in curved spacetime and developing renormalization theory for interacting quantum fields. The methods of ``microlocal analysis'' have played a key role in this progress, and the time seems ripe to apply these methods to other outstanding physical issues. We have identified four specific topics of interest that we plan to consider in the program (though the program is not intended to be limited to these topics):

  1. The role of ``ultraviolet behavior'' (above the Planck scale) in the Hawking effect
  2. Positive energy properties of quantum fields in curved spacetime (such as the averaged null energy condition and ``quantum inequalities'')
  3. The interplay between global aspects of spacetime and the properties of quantum fields
  4. The nature of ultraviolet behavior and renormalization in the loop variables/quantum geometry approach to quantum gravity and its relationship to behavior found in ordinary quantum field theory.
Although these and other topics will be discussed throughout the entire two-month program, we expect topics (1) and (2) to be emphasized during July, and topic (4) will be emphasized during the period July 29 through August 16. It is planned that a workshop will take place during the week of August 4.

The participants and their dates of participation are as follows:
 
Abey ASHTEKAR 28.07. - 18.08.
Martin BOJOWALD 27.07. - 18.08.
Hans Juergen BORCHERS  01.07. - 31.07.
Romeo BRUNETTI 01.07. - 26.07.
Detlev BUCHHOLZ 28.07. - 11.08.
Michael DUETSCH 18.08. - 30.08.
Stephen FAIRHURST 26.07. - 18.08.
CJ FEWSTER 08.07. - 22.08.
Eanna FLANAGAN 28.07. - 09.08.
Larry FORD 07.07. - 20.07.
Klaus FREDENHAGEN 01.07. - 31.08.
Rodolfo GAMBINI 07.08. - 14.08.
Stefan HOLLANDS 01.07. - 31.08.
Ted JACOBSON 30.06. - 15.07.
Wolfgang JUNKER 08.07. - 14.07.
Fernando LLEDO 07.07. - 17.07.
Alejandro PEREZ 27.07. - 18.08.
Mitch PFENNIG 09.07. - 20.08.
Jorge PULLIN 07.08. - 14.08.
Karl-Henning REHREN 04.08. - 30.08.
Thomas ROMAN 07.07. - 20.07.
Hanno SAHLMANN 27.07. - 18.08.
Thomas THIEMANN 29.07. - 17.08.
Bill UNRUH 15.07. - 15.08.
Rainer VERCH 08.07. - 27.07.
Robert Manuel WALD 03.07. - 23.08.

 

Seminars start at 11am. The following seminars/titles have been confirmed (last updated: 12.08.):
 
 
Wednesday, 10 July Ted JACOBSON "The trans-Planckian question for Hawking radiation and cosmology"
Thursday, 11 July Larry FORD "Constraints on Negative Energy Densities in Quantum Field Theory"
Friday, 12 July Wolfgang JUNKER "An Introduction to Microlocal Analysis and Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime"
Monday, 15 July Chris FEWSTER "Three Perspectives on Quantum Inequalities"
Tuesday, 16 July Tom ROMAN "Constraints on Spatial Distributions of Negative Energy"
Wednesday, 17 July Stefan HOLLANDS "An Introduction to Interacting Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetimes I: The Basic Problems"
Thursday, 18 July Klaus FREDENHAGEN "An Introdcution to Interacting Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime II: The Epstein-Glaser Approach"
Friday, 19 July Bill UNRUH "Black Hole Analogs"
Monday,  22 July Klaus FREDENHAGEN "An Introduction... III: The Role of General Covariance"
Wednesday, 24 July Stefan HOLLANDS "An Introduction... IV: Handling the Finite Renormalization Ambiguities"
Friday, 26 July Rainer VERCH "Mathematical Aspects of Some Recent Developments in Quantum Field Theory on Curved Spacetime"
Tuesday, 30 July (***Note: Horsaal 3, 2:00pm***) Jerzy LEWANDOWSKI "Introduction to Quantum Gemometry"
Thursday, 1 August (***Note: Horsaal 3, 11:00am***) Eanna FLANAGAN "Quantum Inequalities in 2-dimensional Spacetimes"
Friday, 2 August Alejandro PEREZ "Spin Foam Quantization of Gravity: A Finite Model"
Monday, 12 August Daniele GUIDO "Modular Localization, Dethermalization, and the dS-CFT Correspondence"
Tuesday, 13 August (*** Note: Horsaal 3***) Robert WALD "Remarks on Inflation"
Tuesday, 13 August (*** Note: 2:30pm, Horsaal 3***) Jorge PULLIN "Consistent Lattice Quantum Gravity"
Wednesday, 14 August Steve FAIRHURST "Shadow States in Quantum Gravity"
Thursday, 15 August  (*** Note: Horsaal 3***) Hanno SAHLMANN "QFT on Quantum Geometry"
Friday, 16 August Mitch PFENNING "Quantum Inequalities for Spin One Fields"
Tuesday, 20 August Stefan HOLLANDS "On the Renormalization Group in Curved Spacetime"

The workshop takes place between 5 August--9 August.
 
 
Monday, 5 August  Tuesday, 6 August (***Horsaal 3***) Wednesday, 7 August  Thursday, 8 August (***Horsaal 3***) Friday, 9 August
11:00am Bill UNRUH: "Circular Acceleration, Acceleration Radiation, and Electron Thermometers" Chris FEWSTER: "Quantum Inequalities: Restriction on Negative Energy Densities in QFT" Abhay ASHTEKAR: "Quantum Geometry and its Applications: An Overview" Thomas THIEMANN: "Towards the Quantum Einstein Equations" Jacob YNGVASON: "On the Equivalence of Modular Covariance and Lorentz Invariance for Generalized Free Fields"
2:30pm Robert WALD: "The Present Status of Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime" Detlev BUCHHOLZ: "Local Equilibrium, Hot Bangs, and the Arrow of Time in Relativistic Quantum Field Theory" Klaus FREDENHAGEN: "Canonical Formalism Without a Space/Time Splitting" Karl-Henning REHREN: "A Comment on the 'Dual Field' in the AdS-CFT Correspondence" Martin BOJOWALD: "Loop Quantum Cosmology"