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arxiv: 1212.6249 · v1 · pith:W353SMTYnew · submitted 2012-12-26 · ✦ hep-th · math-ph· math.MP· quant-ph

Torque Anomaly in Quantum Field Theory

classification ✦ hep-th math-phmath.MPquant-ph
keywords fieldanomalyenergypressurequantumregularizationtorqueangle
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The expectation values of energy density and pressure of a quantum field inside a wedge-shaped region appear to violate the expected relationship between torque and total energy as a function of angle. In particular, this is true of the well-known Deutsch--Candelas stress tensor for the electromagnetic field, whose definition requires no regularization except possibly at the vertex. Unlike a similar anomaly in the pressure exerted by a reflecting boundary against a perpendicular wall, this problem cannot be dismissed as an artifact of an ad hoc regularization.

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