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Note on episodes in the history of modeling measurements in local spacetime regions using QFT

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Abstract

The formulation of a measurement theory for relativistic quantum field theory (QFT) has recently been an active area of research. In contrast to the asymptotic measurement framework that was enshrined in QED, the new proposals aim to supply a measurement framework for measurements in local spacetime regions. This paper surveys episodes in the history of quantum theory that contemporary researchers have identified as precursors to their own work and discusses how they laid the groundwork for current approaches to local measurement theory for QFT.

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Notes

  1. It withers away rather than being completely abolished because non-scattering problems (e.g., bound state problems) were solved by starting from the S-matrix and reintroducing stationary or instantaneous states [8, p.77, fn 81].

  2. For a review of recent approaches to measurement in QFT and how they respond to Sorkin ‘impossible measurement’ scenarios, see [1]. For a discussion of some philosophical implications of measurement theory for QFT, see [10].

  3. Note that not all of this research is confined to measurements in local regions. For example, sometimes Gaussian smearing functions are used [17].

  4. A microscopic quantum mechanical system (such as a particle with spin or an atom) is commonly called a probe of the field, while the term detector is typically used for explicitly macroscopic detector systems (such as a superconducting qubit). Sometimes the terms ‘detector’ and ‘probe’ are used interchangeably, especially if it is not clear from the context whether the measuring system is microscopic or macroscopic.

  5. Haag and Kastler [35, p.851] remark that ‘[i]n any case it is rather evident that one can construct a good mathematical representative of a Geiger counter coincidence arrangement using the subalgebras for finite regions.’ Chapter VI of Haag’s book [40] provides a detailed justification for and qualification of this remark in terms of asymptotic particle representations, focusing on the difficulties raised by superselection rules, the infrared problem, and long-range correlations.

  6. Earman [48] points out that [47] was presented at the first Marcel Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity in 1975 and takes this to be the first public presentation of the Unruh effect.

  7. The pointlike model suffers from UV divergences that can be regulated through the introduction of suitable test functions [53].

  8. For a first-hand account of the origins of the International Society for Relativistic Quantum Information, see ‘How our society came into being’ by Bei-Lok Hu in https://www.isrqi.net.

  9. This is also a feature of histories-based formalisms (see [4, 61]).

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Charis Anastopoulos, José de Ramón Rivera, Alex Blum, and two anonymous referees for useful feedback on drafts of this paper. This work is part of a larger project for which we are appreciative of the help that we have received from many people (see Papageorgiou and Fraser [1]). MP is grateful to Bernadette Lessel for co-organizing a pandemic reading group that motivated part of this work. DF and MP gratefully acknowledge support from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant. MP acknowledges support of the ID\(\#\) 62312 grant from the John Templeton Foundation, as part of the https://www.templeton.org/grant/thequantum-information-structure-ofspacetime-qiss-second-phase.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

    Doreen Fraser

  2. Department of Applied Mathematics and Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

    Maria Papageorgiou

  3. Division of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    Maria Papageorgiou

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  1. Doreen Fraser
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DF and MP contributed equally to the research, writing, and revision of the paper. DF and MP approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Doreen Fraser.

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Fraser, D., Papageorgiou, M. Note on episodes in the history of modeling measurements in local spacetime regions using QFT. EPJ H 48, 14 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/s13129-023-00064-1

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