Wigner function for quantum field theory via spacetime tiling

Abstract

We present a construction of the Wigner function for a bosonic quantum field theory that has well-defined ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) properties. Our construction uses the local mode formalism in algebraic quantum field theory that is valid in any globally hyperbolic curved spacetimes, i.e., without invoking the path integral formalism. The idea is to build $N$ quantum harmonic oscillators degrees of freedom from $2N$ smeared field operators and use them to "tile" a Cauchy surface of the spacetime manifold. The smallest support of the smearing functions that define each local mode define the UV scale and the number of modes local modes fix the IR scale. This construction can be viewed as a form of "covariant discretization" of the quantum field in curved spacetimes, since the tiling of the Cauchy surface does not depend on any choice of coordinate systems or foliation.