Propagator of a scalar field on a stationary slowly varying gravitational background

Abstract

The propagator of a scalar field on a stationary slowly varying in space gravitational background is derived retaining only the second derivatives of the metric. The corresponding one-loop effective action is constructed. The propagator and the effective action turn out to depend nontrivially on the Killing vector defining the vacuum state and the Hamiltonian of a scalar field. The Hawking particle production is described in the quasiclassical approximation and the quasiclassical formula for the Hawking temperature is derived. The behaviour of the Unruh detector on a curved background is considered and the quasiclassical formula for the Unruh acceleration determining the Unruh temperature is derived. The radiation reaction problem on a curved background is discussed in view of the new approximate expression for the propagator. The correction to the mass squared of a scalar particle on a stationary gravitational background is obtained. This correction is analogous to the quantum correction to the particle mass in a strong electromagnetic field. For a vacuum solution to the Einstein equations, it is equal to minus one-fourth of the free fall acceleration squared.