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The formalism of nonrelativistic quantum physics was originally considered in the context of inertial frames. Here, we report on a more general framework that includes noninertial frames and arbitrarily strong gravitational fields. We derive from first principles the nonrelativistic limit of quantum fields in curved spacetime. Unique features and subtleties of the fully covariant theory in curved spacetime affect nonrelativistic quantum systems in accelerated frames when the acceleration is sufficiently high. This includes the frame dependent notion of particles, energies, vacuum states and nonrelativistic conditions. By using the algebraic approach to quantum field theory, we detail these effects in the noninertial nonrelativistic regime. The theoretical framework developed here gives predictions about the phenomenology of nonrelativistic quantum systems that are put in noninertial motion. As an application, we derive the realistic model of accelerated nonrelativistic atoms by using Dirac field theory in Rindler spacetime. We report on the experimental constraints for the indirect observation of the Unruh effect by means of atomic detectors via hyperfine structure. Then, we address the problem of localization of quantum states and observables in inertial and accelerated frames. We show how the Born probabilistic notion emerges in both cases as a consequence of the respective nonrelativistic limit. As a result, we find that nonrelativistic states can be described in terms of wave functions that quantify the probability to find particles in each space position. Also, we report on nonlocal effects that originate from the frame dependent nature of vacuum states and nonrelativistic conditions in the quantum field theory in curved spacetime., Comment: PhD thesis

We study the problem of localization in Quantum Field Theory (QFT) from the point of view of inertial and accelerated experimenters. We consider the Newton-Wigner, the Algebraic Quantum Field Theory (AQFT) and the modal localization schemes, which are, respectively, based on the orthogonality condition for states localized in disjoint regions of space, on the algebraic approach to QFT and on the representation of single particles as positive frequency solution of the field equation. We show that only the AQFT scheme obeys causality and physical invariance under diffeomorphisms. Then, we consider the nonrelativistic limit of quantum fields in the Rindler frame. We demonstrate the convergence between the AQFT and the modal scheme and we show the emergence of the Born notion of localization of states and observables. Also, we study the scenario in which an experimenter prepares states over a background vacuum by means of nonrelativistic local operators and another experimenter carries out nonrelativistic local measurements in a different region. We find that the independence between preparation of states and measurements is not guaranteed when both experimenters are accelerated and the background state is different from Rindler vacuum, or when one of the two experimenters is inertial.

We review the issue of localization in quantum field theory and detail the nonrelativistic limit. Three distinct localization schemes are examined: the Newton-Wigner, the algebraic quantum field theory, and the modal scheme. Among these, the algebraic quantum field theory provides a fundamental concept of localization, rooted in its axiomatic formulation. In contrast, the Newton-Wigner scheme draws inspiration from the Born interpretation, applying mainly to the nonrelativistic regime. The modal scheme, relying on the representation of single particles as positive frequency modes of the Klein-Gordon equation, is found to be incompatible with the algebraic quantum field theory localization. This review delves into the distinctive features of each scheme, offering a comparative analysis. A specific focus is placed on the property of independence between state preparations and observable measurements in spacelike separated regions. Notably, the notion of localization in algebraic quantum field theory violates this independence due to the Reeh-Schlieder theorem. Drawing parallels with the quantum teleportation protocol, it is argued that causality remains unviolated. Additionally, we consider the nonrelativistic limit of quantum field theory, revealing the emergence of the Born scheme as the fundamental concept of localization. Consequently, the nonlocality associated with the Reeh-Schlieder theorem is shown to be suppressed under nonrelativistic conditions.

We consider ionized hydrogen-like atoms accelerated by an external electric field to detect Unruh radiation. By applying quantum field theory in the Rindler spacetime, we show that the first-quantized description for hydrogen-like atoms cannot always be adopted. This is due to the frame-dependent definition of particles as positive and negative frequency field modes. We show how to suppress such a frame-dependent effect by constraining the atomic ionization and the electric field. We identify the physical regimes with nonvanishing atomic excitation probability due to the Unruh electromagnetic background. We recognize the observational limits for the Unruh effect via first-quantized atomic detectors, which appear to be compatible with current technology. Notably, the non-relativistic energy spectrum of the atom cannot induce coupling with the thermal radiation, even when special relativistic and general relativistic corrections are considered. On the contrary, the coupling with the Unruh radiation arises because of relativistic hyperfine splitting.

We consider a free Dirac field in flat spacetime and we derive the representation of the Minkowski vacuum as an element of the Rindler-Fock space. We also compute the statistical operator obtained by tracing away the left wedge. We detail the resulting thermal state for fermionic particles.

We study the non-relativistic limit of quantum fields for an inertial and a non-inertial observer. We show that non-relativistic particle states appear as a superposition of relativistic and non-relativistic particles in different frames. Hence, the non-relativistic limit is frame-dependent. We detail this result when the non-inertial observer has uniform constant acceleration. Only for low accelerations, the accelerated observer agrees with the inertial frame about the non-relativistic nature of particles locally. In such a quasi-inertial regime, both observers agree about the number of particles describing quantum field states. The same does not occur when the acceleration is arbitrarily large (e.g., the Unruh effect). We furthermore prove that wave functions of particles in the inertial and the quasi-inertial frame are identical up to the coordinate transformation relating the two frames.

We give from first principles the non-relativistic limit of scalar and Dirac fields in curved spacetime. We aim to find general relativistic corrections to the quantum theory of particles affected by Newtonian gravity, a regime nowadays experimentally accessible. We believe that the ever-improving measurement accuracy and the theoretical interest in finding general relativistic effects in quantum systems require the introduction of corrections to the Schr\"{o}dinger-Newtonian theory. We rigorously determine these corrections by the non-relativistic limit of fully relativistic quantum theories in curved spacetime. For curved static spacetimes, we show how a non-inertial observer (equivalently, an observer in the presence of a gravitational field) can distinguish a scalar field from a Dirac field by particle-gravity interaction. We study the Rindler spacetime and discuss the difference between the resulting non-relativistic Hamiltonians. We find that for sufficiently large acceleration, the gravity-spin coupling dominates over the corrections for scalar fields, promoting Dirac particles as the best candidates for observing non-Newtonian gravity in quantum particle phenomenology.

An explicit Wigner formulation of Minkowski particle states for non-inertial observers is unknown. Here, we derive a general prescription to compute the characteristic function for Minkowski-Fock states in accelerated frames. For the special case of single-particle and two-particle states, this method enables to derive mean values of particle numbers and correlation function in the momentum space, and the way they are affected by the acceleration of the observer. We show an indistinguishability between Minkowski single-particle and two-particle states in terms of Rindler particle distribution that can be regarded as a way for the observer to detect any acceleration of the frame. We find that for two-particle states the observer is also able to detect acceleration by measuring the correlation between Rindler particles with different momenta.

We show that Minkowski single-particle states localized beyond the horizon modify the Unruh thermal distribution in an accelerated frame. This means that, contrary to classical predictions, accelerated observers can reveal particles emitted beyond the horizon. The method we adopt is based on deriving the explicit Wigner characteristic function for the complete description of the quantum field in the non-inertial frame and can be generalized to general states.

The aim of this paper is to study the stability of soliton-like static solutions via non-linear simulations in the context of a special class of massive tensor-multi-scalar-theories of gravity whose target space metric admits Killing field(s) with a periodic flow. We focused on the case with two scalar fields and maximally symmetric target space metric, as the simplest configuration where solitonic solutions can exist. In the limit of zero curvature of the target space $\kappa = 0$ these solutions reduce to the standard boson stars, while for $\kappa \ne 0$ significant deviations can be observed, both qualitative and quantitative. By evolving these solitonic solutions in time, we show that they are stable for low values of the central scalar field $\psi_c$ while instability kicks in with the increase of $\psi_c$. Specifically, in the stable region, the models oscillate with a characteristic frequency related to the fundamental mode. Such frequency tends to zero with the approach of the unstable models and eventually becomes imaginary when the solitonic solutions lose stability. As expected from the study of the equilibrium models, the change of stability occurs exactly at the maximum mass point, which was checked numerically with a very good accuracy.