On the construction of Hadamard states from Feynman propagators

Abstract

The Wightman two-point function of any Hadamard state of a linear quantum field theory determines a corresponding Feynman propagator. Conversely, however, a Feynman propagator determines a state only if certain positivity conditions are fulfilled. Choosing a Feynman propagator to satisfy the correct positivity conditions involves a slightly subtle point that we address and resolve. Starting from a recent generalisation of the Duistermaat-H\"ormander theory of distinguished parametrices to normally hyperbolic and Dirac-type operators acting on sections of hermitian vector bundles, we complete this work by showing how Feynman propagators can be chosen so as to define Hadamard states. The theories considered are: the complex bosonic field governed by a normally hyperbolic operator; the corresponding hermitian theory if the operator commutes with a complex conjugation; the Dirac fermionic theory governed by a Dirac-type operator, and the corresponding Majorana theory in the case where the operator commutes with a skew complex conjugation. The additional key ingredients that we supply are simple domination properties of self-adjoint smooth kernels.