2017/09/30 by Wayne C. Myrvold · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Causality (physics) #Classical mechanics #Computer science #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry) #Impossibility #Invariant (physics) #Law #Physics #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum field theory #Quantum mechanics #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Stability (learning theory) #Theoretical physics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.96.062116
published as Phys. Rev. A 96, 062116 (2017) · This version corrects a few minor errors in the previous version
arxiv created 2017/12/11 · openalex publication_date 2017/12/11 · arxiv updated 2017/12/20 · openalex created_date 2017/12/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The impossibility of an indeterministic evolution for standard relativistic quantum field theories, that is, theories in which all fields satisfy the condition that the generators of space-time translation have spectra in the forward light-cone, is demonstrated. The demonstration proceeds by arguing that a relativistically invariant theory must have a stable vacuum and then showing that stability of the vacuum, together with the requirements imposed by relativistic causality, entails deterministic evolution, if all degrees of freedom are standard degrees of freedom.