Overview: Main themes. Key issues. Reader's guide -- 'In-out' effective action. Dimensional regularization -- 'In-in' effective action. Stress tensor. Thermal fields -- Stress-energy tensor and correlators : zeta-function method -- Stress-energy tensor and correlation : point separation -- Infrared behavior of interacting quantum fields -- Advanced field theory topics -- Backreaction of early universe quantum processes -- Metric correlations at one-loop : in-in and large N -- The Einstein-Langevin equation -- Metric fluctuations in Minkowski spacetime -- Cosmological backreaction with fluctuations -- Structure formation in the early universe -- Black hole backreaction and fluctuations -- Stress-energy tensor fluctuations in de Sitter space -- Two-point metric perturbations in de Sitter -- Riemann tensor correlator in de Sitter -- Epilogue: Linkage with quantum gravity.
Summary:
"The two pillars of modern physics are general relativity and quantum field theory, the former describes the large scale structure and dynamics of space-time, the latter, the microscopic constituents of matter. Combining the two yields quantum field theory in curved space-time, which is needed to understand quantum field processes in the early universe and black holes, such as the well-known Hawking effect. This book examines the effects of quantum field processes back-reacting on the background space-time which become important near the Planck time (10-43 sec). It explores the self-consistent description of both space-time and matter via the semiclassical Einstein equation of semiclassical gravity theory, exemplified by the inflationary cosmology, and fluctuations of quantum fields which underpin stochastic gravity, necessary for the description of metric fluctuations (space-time foams). Covering over four decades of thematic development, this book is a valuable resource for researchers interested in quantum field theory, gravitation and cosmology"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.