Derivation of Poincare Invariance from general quantum field theory

Abstract

Starting from a very general quantum field theory we seek to derive Poincare invariance in the limit of low energy excitations. We do not, of course, assume these symmetries at the outset, but rather only a very general second quantised model. Many of the degrees of freedom on which the fields depend turn out to correspond to a higher dimension. We are not yet perfectly successful. In particular, for the derivation of translational invariance, we need to assume that some background parameters, which a priori vary in space, can be interpreted as gravitational fields in a future extension of our model. Assuming translational invariance arises in this way, we essentially obtain quantum electrodynamics in just 3 + 1 dimensions from our model. The only remaining flaw in the model is that the photon and the various Weyl fermions turn out to have their own separate metric tensors.

35 pages, to be published in Annalen der Physik, Special Issue commemorating Albert Einstein