Thermal effects on a global monopole with Robin boundary conditions

Abstract

Within quantum field theory on a global monopole spacetime, we study thermal effects on a naked singularity and its relation with boundary conditions. We first obtain the two-points functions for the ground state and for thermal states of a massive, arbitrarily-coupled, free scalar field compatible with Robin boundary conditions at the singularity. We then probe these states using a static Unruh-Dewitt particle detector. The transition rate is analyzed for the particular cases of massless minimally or conformally coupled fields at finite temperature. To interpret the detector's behavior, we compute the thermal contribution to the ground-state fluctuations and to the energy density. We verify that the behavior of the transition rate, the fluctuations and the energy density are closely intertwined. In addition, we find that these renormalized quantities remain finite at the singularity for, and only for, Dirichlet boundary condition.