Beyond Conventional Quantization (Q4942170)

Despite its successes in two and three spacetime dimensions, constructive quantum field theory has run into serious difficulties when applied to dimensions \(n\geq 4\). Here, the conventional approach (Euclidean formulation, lattice approximation of path integrals) utterly fails. All that even for the simplest of all classical models, the \(\Phi_4^4\) theory, such an approach yields are trivial (Gaussian) solutions. Very often the reaction to this result is dissatisfaction, even disbelief. In the words of the author: ``With the strongest possible emphasis we wish to assert that triviality must be regarded as an unacceptable answer.'' To put it differently, there does not seem to exist a quantum version which approximates the classical model when \(\hslash\to 0\) (called ``classical consistency''). Over the years Klauder has intensely studied ultralocal models both from an operator and functional point of view, which -- though lacking relativistic covariance -- offer a hint of how to circumvent the pitfalls of conventional quantization, at the same time providing valuable information why traditional methods fail. The present book summarizes these findings, embeds them into the general context of quantum theory so as to make it a readable text, and expresses the author's hope that the methods developed carry over to more realistic models in the near future. Since its focus is on selfinteracting scalar fields, it omits a vast number of other topics (e.g. gauge theories) normally treated by modern textbooks on quantum field theory. The material is organized as follows. Chapters 1 to 5 provide supplements to ordinary quantum mechanics and field theory, emphasizing advanced Hilbert space techniques, the role of coherent states, and functional integration. Chapter 6 introduces ``tags'' (invariants of operator representations), infinite-product representations, and infinitely divisible distributions for later use while Chapters 8 to 10 constitute the heart of the presentation: the study of bosonic models with nontrivial and classical consistent quantum versions. Finally, Chapter 11 provides an outlook. In essence, the functional integral and Euclidean lattice formulation call for the inclusion of an ``auxiliary potential'', a non-polynomial function of the field and the lattice spacing, absent in the classical situation. For the \(\Phi_4^4\) theory, however, this potential remains undetermined, and the reader is urged to either propose or find the correct expression.