The shuffle Hopf algebra and quasiplanar Wick products

The operator valued distributions which arise in quantum field theory on the noncommutative Minkowski space can be symbolized by a generalization of chord diagrams, the dotted chord diagrams. In this framework, the combinatorial aspects of quasiplanar Wick products are understood in terms of the shuffle Hopf algebra of dotted chord diagrams, leading to an algebraic characterization of quasiplanar Wick products as a convolution. Moreover, it is shown that the distributions do not provide a weight system for universal knot invariants.Comment: 16 pages, prepared for the conference proceedings "Non commutative Geometry and Physics", Laboratoire de physique th\'eorique d'Orsay, April 23-27, 200

Unitary Quantum Field Theory on the Noncommutative Minkowski space

This is the written version of a talk I gave at the 35th Symposium Ahrenshoop in Berlin, Germany, August 2002. It is an exposition of joint work with S. Doplicher, K. Fredenhagen, and Gh. Piacitelli [1]. The violation of unitarity found in quantum field theory on noncommutative spacetimes in the context of the so-called modified Feynman rules is linked to the notion of time ordering implicitely used in the assumption that perturbation theory may be done in terms of Feynman propagators. Two alternative approaches which do not entail a violation of unitarity are sketched. An outlook upon our more recent work is given.Comment: 6 pages. To appear in the proceedings of 35th International Symposium Ahrenshoop on the theory of Elementary Particles: Recent Developments in String / M Theory and Field Theory, Berlin, Germany, 26-30 Aug 2002 (special issue of the journal "Fortschritte der Physik") v2: minor addition to the abstrac

UV Finite Field Theories on Noncommutative Spacetimes: the Quantum Wick Product and Time Independent Perturbation Theory

In this article an energy correction is calculated in the time independent perturbation setup using a regularised ultraviolet finite Hamiltonian on the noncommutative Minkowski space. The correction to the energy is invariant under rotation and translation but is not Lorentz covariant and this leads to a distortion of the dispersion relation. In the limit where the noncommutativity vanishes the common quantum field theory on the commutative Minkowski space is reobtained.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Ultraviolet Finite Quantum Field Theory on Quantum Spacetime

We discuss a formulation of quantum field theory on quantum space time where the perturbation expansion of the S-matrix is term by term ultraviolet finite. The characteristic feature of our approach is a quantum version of the Wick product at coinciding points: the differences of coordinates q_j - q_k are not set equal to zero, which would violate the commutation relation between their components. We show that the optimal degree of approximate coincidence can be defined by the evaluation of a conditional expectation which replaces each function of q_j - q_k by its expectation value in optimally localized states, while leaving the mean coordinates (q_1 + ... + q_n)/n invariant. The resulting procedure is to a large extent unique, and is invariant under translations and rotations, but violates Lorentz invariance. Indeed, optimal localization refers to a specific Lorentz frame, where the electric and magnetic parts of the commutator of the coordinates have to coincide *). Employing an adiabatic switching, we show that the S-matrix is term by term finite. The matrix elements of the transfer matrix are determined, at each order in the perturbative expansion, by kernels with Gaussian decay in the Planck scale. The adiabatic limit and the large scale limit of this theory will be studied elsewhere. -- *) S. Doplicher, K. Fredenhagen, and J.E.Roberts, Commun. Math. Phys. 172, 187 (1995) [arXiv:hep-th/0303037]Comment: LaTeX (using amsmath, amssymb), 23 pages, 1 figure. Dedicated to Rudolf Haag on the occasion of his 80th birthday. See also: hep-th/0303037, hep-th/0201222. Second version: minor changes in exposition, two references added. To appear on Commun. Math. Phy

Field Theory on Noncommutative Spacetimes: Quasiplanar Wick Products

We give a definition of admissible counterterms appropriate for massive quantum field theories on the noncommutative Minkowski space, based on a suitable notion of locality. We then define products of fields of arbitrary order, the so-called quasiplanar Wick products, by subtracting only such admissible counterterms. We derive the analogue of Wick's theorem and comment on the consequences of using quasiplanar Wick products in the perturbative expansion.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, v2: minor changes, v3: minor changes, reference adde

Perturbative quantization of two-dimensional space-time noncommutative QED

Using the method of perturbative quantization in the first order approximation, we quantize a non-local QED-like theory including fermions and bosons whose interactions are described by terms containing higher order space-time derivatives. As an example, the two-dimensional space-time noncommutative QED (NC-QED) is quantized perturbatively up to O(e^2,\theta^3), where e is the NC-QED coupling constant and \theta is the noncommutativity parameter. The resulting modified Lagrangian density is shown to include terms consisting of first order time-derivative and higher order space-derivatives of the modified field variables that satisfy the ordinary equal-time commutation relations up to O(e^2,\theta^3. Using these commutation relations, the canonical current algebra of the modified theory is also derived.Comment: 22 pages, no figure

DFR Perturbative Quantum Field theory on Quantum Space Time, and Wick Reduction

We discuss the perturbative approach a` la Dyson to a quantum field theory with nonlocal self-interaction :phi*...*phi:, according to Doplicher, Fredenhagen and Roberts (DFR). In particular, we show that the Wick reduction of non locally time--ordered products of Wick monomials can be performed as usual, and we discuss a very simple Dyson diagram.Comment: 15 pages, pdf has active hyperlinks. To appear in the proceedings of the conference on "Rigorous quantum Field Theory", held at Saclay on July 19-21, 2004, on the occasion of Jacques Bros' 70th birthda

Quantum Field Theory on Quantum Spacetime

Condensed account of the Lectures delivered at the Meeting on {\it Noncommutative Geometry in Field and String Theory}, Corfu, September 18 - 20, 2005.Comment: 10 page

Infrared cutoffs and the adiabatic limit in noncommutative spacetime

We discuss appropriate infrared cutoffs and their adiabatic limit for field theories on the noncommutative Minkowski space in the Yang-Feldman formalism. In order to do this, we consider a mass term as interaction term. We show that an infrared cutoff can be defined quite analogously to the commutative case and that the adiabatic limit of the two-point function exists and coincides with the expectation, to all orders.Comment: 19 page