Photon decaying in de Sitter universe

TL;DR

This paper investigates photon decay processes in a de Sitter universe using ambient space formalism, analyzing the scattering matrix and gravitational effects, and comparing results with Minkowski space in the null curvature limit.

Contribution

It introduces a formalism for photon interactions in de Sitter space and derives scattering matrices, extending quantum field theory to curved spacetime.

Findings

Scattering matrix elements for photon decay in de Sitter space are derived.

The null curvature limit recovers Minkowski space results.

Gravitational effects on quantum fields are characterized in this formalism.

Abstract

The interaction between three photons is studied in de Sitter ambient space formalism. As a special case the half harmonic generator is considered, {\it i.e.} one photon decays to two same-energy photons. The scattering matrix elements are presented which define the indirect gravitational effect on quantum field theory. The null curvature limit of scattering matrix is obtained for comparing it with its Minkowskian counterpart. The Hamiltonian of this interaction, in Minkowski space-time, was presented by using the quantum vacuum fluctuation in the one-loop approximation.