Complex geodesics in de Sitter space
Shira Chapman, Damián A. Galante, Eleanor Harris, Sameer U. Sheorey, David Vegh
Abstract
A bstract The two-point function of a free massive scalar field on a fixed background can be evaluated in the large mass limit by using a semiclassical geodesic approximation. In de Sitter space, however, this poses a puzzle. Certain spacelike separated points are not connected by real geodesics despite the corresponding two-point function in the Bunch-Davies state being non-vanishing. We resolve this puzzle by considering complex geodesics after analytically continuing to the sphere. We compute one-loop corrections to the correlator and discuss the implications of our results to de Sitter holography.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsGeodesicDe Sitter universeDe Sitter spaceAnti-de Sitter spaceSemiclassical physicsde Sitter–Schwarzschild metricMathematical physicsScalar fieldde Sitter invariant special relativityScalar (mathematics)Limit (mathematics)Classical mechanicsQuantum mechanicsGravitationMathematical analysisSchwarzschild radiusUniverseGeometryMathematicsQuantumBlack Holes and Theoretical PhysicsCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena