Regularized stress tensor of vector fields in de Sitter space

TL;DR

This paper calculates and regularizes the vacuum stress tensor of a massive vector field in de Sitter space, ensuring it is finite, covariantly conserved, and suitable for modeling the cosmological constant during inflation.

Contribution

It introduces a specific adiabatic regularization scheme for the Stueckelberg field in de Sitter space, ensuring a physically consistent vacuum stress tensor.

Findings

The regularized stress tensor is finite, conserved, and positive.

In the massless limit, the stress tensor vanishes, matching Maxwell's field.

Higher or lower adiabatic orders lead to unphysical results.

Abstract

We study the Stueckelberg field in de Sitter space, which is a massive vector field with the gauge fixing (GF) term $\frac{1}{2\zeta} (A^\mu\,_{;\, \mu})^2$. We obtain the vacuum stress tensor, which consists of the transverse, longitudinal, temporal, and GF parts, and each contains various UV divergences. By the minimal subtraction rule, we regularize each part of the stress tensor to its pertinent adiabatic order. The transverse stress tensor is regularized to the 0th adiabatic order, the longitudinal, temporal, and GF stress tensors are regularized to the 2nd adiabatic order. The resulting total regularized vacuum stress tensor is convergent and maximally-symmetric, has a positive energy density, and respects the covariant conservation, and thus can be identified as the cosmological constant that drives the de Sitter inflation. Under the Lorenz condition $A^\mu\,_{;\, \mu}=0$, the regularized Stueckelberg stress tensor reduces to the regularized Proca stress tensor that contains only the transverse and longitudinal modes. In the massless limit, the regularized Stueckelberg stress tensor becomes zero, and is the same as that of the Maxwell field with the GF term, and no trace anomaly exists. If the order of adiabatic regularization were lower than our prescription, some divergences would remain. If the order were higher, say, under the conventional 4th-order regularization, more terms than necessary would be subtracted off, leading to an unphysical negative energy density and the trace anomaly simultaneously.