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Axiomatic renormalization of the stress tensor of a conformally invariant field in conformally flat spacetimes

✍ Scribed by Robert M Wald


Publisher
Elsevier Science
Year
1978
Tongue
English
Weight
992 KB
Volume
110
Category
Article
ISSN
0003-4916

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✦ Synopsis


Using only the general properties which the renormalized stress-energy tensor T,," should satisfy-and not relying on any assumptions associated with specific renormalization techniques-we derive the expression for Tuy for conformally invariant fields in conformally flat spacetimes of two and four dimensions. In two dimensions, these arguments rederive the Davies-Fulling-Unruh expression for the stress tensor of a scalar field; in four dimensions the results agree with those of Brown and Cassidy, except that we exclude the local curvature term depending on fourth-order derivatives of the metric. The dynamics of a k = 0 Robertson-Walker universe filled with radiation of the conformally invariant field is investigated and it is found that the equations cease to admit a solution when the Planck density is reached.