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Quantum Physics

Title: Reeh-Schlieder Defeats Newton-Wigner: On alternative localization schemes in relativistic quantum field theory

Authors: Hans Halvorson (Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh)
Abstract: Many of the "counterintuitive" features of relativistic quantum field theory have their formal root in the Reeh-Schlieder theorem, which in particular entails that local operations applied to the vacuum state can produce any state of the entire field. It is of great interest, then, that I.E. Segal and, more recently, G. Fleming (in a paper entitled "Reeh-Schlieder Meets Newton-Wigner") have proposed an alternative "Newton-Wigner" localization scheme that avoids the Reeh-Schlieder theorem. In this paper, I reconstruct the Newton-Wigner localization scheme and clarify the limited extent to which it avoids the counterintuitive consequences of the Reeh-Schlieder theorem. I also argue that neither Segal nor Fleming has provided a coherent account of the physical meaning of Newton-Wigner localization.
Comments: 25 pages, LaTeX
Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
Journal reference: Phil.Sci. 68 (2001) 111-133
Cite as: arXiv:quant-ph/0007060
  (or arXiv:quant-ph/0007060v1 for this version)

Submission history

From: Hans Halvorson [view email]
[v1] Tue, 18 Jul 2000 21:23:16 GMT (27kb)