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# Contents

## 1 Introduction

The standard approach to cosmological particle production  involves finding two sets of solutions to the wave equation, with pair production given by a Bogolubov transformation between the two sets of modes. Although this method has a long and proven record of success, there are reasons to search for alternative techniques. In particular, the second-quantized formalism underlying the Bogolubov transformation does not carry over to string theory, whose standard perturbative formulation is first-quantized . In order to estimate, say, the spectrum of density fluctuations coming from stringy effects , one would like to have a first-quantized technique in which one can systematically compute $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections .

In this paper we present a straightforward method for computing pair-production in an arbitrary cosmological background without using Bogolubov transformations. We develop the method in two steps. First we show how to extract pair production from the Feynman propagator using only the late-time positive-frequency modes. Then we show that particle production can be derived from the Feynman propagator of an auxiliary spacetime, without knowledge of the late-time modes. Thus we can compute particle production in a completely first-quantized framework, without any reference to mode solutions. Similar first-quantized techniques have been successful in calculating pair creation from horizons , where again Bogolubov transformations are usually used.

This paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we briefly review the standard treatment of a scalar field in an FRW universe. In section 3 we show that pair production can be obtained from the Feynman propagator using only the late time positive-frequency modes. The number of particles with momentum $`k`$ at late times, $`N_k`$, turns out to be given by a simple expression:

$$N_k=\frac{|\gamma _k|^2}{1|\gamma _k|^2}\mathrm{where}|\gamma _k|^2=\left|\frac{\omega _k\overline{\omega }_k^{}}{\omega _k+\overline{\omega }_k}\right|^2.$$
(1)
Here $`\omega _k`$ is a free parameter that specifies the initial state of this momentum mode of the field. The quantity $`\overline{\omega }_k`$ is computed from out modes, $`u_k(\eta )`$, that are positive-frequency at late times:

$$\overline{\omega }_k=i_\eta \mathrm{log}u_k|_{\eta =\eta _0},$$
(2)
where $`\eta _0`$ is the conformal time at which initial conditions are specified. In practice this technique seems more computationally efficient than the conventional approach; in the appendix, we demonstrate the method by calculating particle creation in various cosmological backgrounds. Although the approach so far is perfectly adequate for computing pair creation, it still requires knowing the out modes and consequently does not provide a fully first-quantized formalism. Therefore, in section 4, we show that pair production can be determined from the Feynman propagator in an auxiliary spacetime. This provides a method for calculating $`\overline{\omega }_k`$ using only first-quantized techniques.

## 2 Scalar Field Quantization

Consider a free minimally-coupled real scalar field $`\widehat{\varphi }(x)`$ in a Robertson-Walker universe with metric

$$ds^2=a^2(\eta )\left(d\eta ^2+h_{ij}dx^idx^j\right).$$

Here $`a(\eta )`$ is the scale factor, $`\eta `$ is conformal time, and $`h_{ij}`$ is the metric of a maximally-symmetric $`n`$-dimensional space. We make the field redefinition

$$\widehat{\varphi }(x)=a^{(1n)/2}(\eta )\widehat{\chi }(x),$$
(3)
and write $`\widehat{\chi }(x)`$ as a sum over momentum modes:

$$\widehat{\chi }(x)=\underset{k}{}\left(\widehat{a}_kf_k(\stackrel{}{x})u_k(\eta )+\widehat{a}_k^{}f_k^{}(\stackrel{}{x})u_k^{}(\eta )\right).$$
(4)
The corresponding mode functions $`u_k(\eta )`$ satisfy

$$u_k^{\prime \prime }+V_ku_k=0$$
(5)
where

$$V_k(\eta )=k^2+a^2m^2\frac{1}{2}(n1)\frac{a^{\prime \prime }}{a}\frac{1}{4}(n1)(n3)\left(\frac{a^{}}{a}\right)^2.$$
(6)
Here  indicates a derivative with respect to $`\eta `$. If one thinks of $`\eta `$ as position, then this is a one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with potential $`\frac{1}{2}V_k(\eta )`$.

### 2.1 Final State

In a general time-dependent background there is no useful sense in which the operators $`\widehat{a}_k`$ and $`\widehat{a}_k^{}`$ annihilate and create particles. However throughout this paper we will assume that the universe is asymptotically adiabatic in the future. Then the WKB approximation becomes valid as $`\eta \mathrm{}`$, and we can take the modes to satisfy

$$u_k(\eta )e^{i^\eta 𝑑\eta ^{}\sqrt{V(\eta ^{})}}\text{as }\eta +\mathrm{}\text{.}$$
(7)
This means the $`u_k(\eta )`$ are positive-frequency in the future, while the $`u_k^{}(\eta )`$ are negative-frequency, so the $`\widehat{a}_k`$ are operators which annihilate the preferred future, or out, vacuum:

$$\widehat{a}_k|\mathrm{out}=0k.$$
(8)
### 2.2 Initial State

We also need to specify the initial state of the field. We will consider initial states that can be characterized as follows. First choose a conformal time $`\eta _0`$ at which to fix initial conditions. Then for each momentum $`k`$ choose a complex parameter $`\omega _k`$. The $`\omega _k`$ are arbitrary, aside from the fact that for reasons given below we require $`\mathrm{Re}\omega _k>0`$ and $`\omega _k=\omega _k`$. Now let $`\widehat{\chi }_k(\eta )`$ be a Fourier component of the field,

$$\widehat{\chi }_k(\eta )=𝑑xf_k^{}(\stackrel{}{x})\widehat{\chi }(\eta ,\stackrel{}{x})=\widehat{a}_ku_k(\eta )+\widehat{a}_k^{}u_k^{}(\eta ).$$
(9)
To specify the initial state of the field we define the operators

$$\widehat{b}_k\sqrt{\frac{\omega _k|\omega _k|}{2\mathrm{Re}\omega _k}}\left(\widehat{\chi }_k(\eta _0)+\frac{i\widehat{\pi }_k(\eta _0)}{\omega _k}\right).$$
(10)
Here the conjugate momentum $`\widehat{\pi }_k(\eta )=_\eta \widehat{\chi }_k`$ satisfies $`i[\widehat{\pi }_k,\widehat{\chi }_k^{}]=\delta _{k+k^{}}`$ as well as $`\widehat{\chi }_k^{}=\widehat{\chi }_k`$, $`\widehat{\pi }_k^{}=\widehat{\pi }_k`$. The normalization of $`\widehat{b}_k`$ and the condition $`\omega _k=\omega _k`$ ensure that $`[\widehat{b}_k,\widehat{b}_k^{}^{}]=\delta _{kk^{}}`$.

We take the initial state to satisfy $`\widehat{b}_k|\mathrm{in}=0`$, or equivalently

$$_\eta \widehat{\chi }_k(\eta _0)|\mathrm{in}=i\omega _k\widehat{\chi }_k(\eta _0)|\mathrm{in}.$$
(11)
The space of initial states we can consider is quite large: the values of the parameters $`\omega _k`$ are essentially arbitrary, so we can specify one complex parameter per momentum mode. By varying the $`\omega _k`$ we can sweep out the entire space of states that are related by Bogolubov transformations.111Although two complex parameters $`\alpha _k`$ and $`\beta _k`$ appear in the Bogolubov transformations (13), they are constrained to satisfy $`|\alpha _k|^2|\beta _k|^2=1`$. Also a Bogolubov transformation which merely multiplies $`\widehat{b}_k`$ by a phase is redundant since it leaves $`|\mathrm{in}`$ invariant.

(Another way to characterize the initial state is to note that, as a consequence of (11), the initial wavefunctional for the field is Gaussian:

$$\mathrm{\Psi }[\chi ]|_{\eta =\eta _0}\mathrm{exp}\frac{1}{2}\underset{k}{}\omega _k|\chi _k|^2.$$
(12)
We require $`\mathrm{Re}\omega _k>0`$ so that the wavefunctional is normalizable, and $`\omega _k=\omega _k`$ so that the integrability condition $`[\widehat{b}_k,\widehat{b}_k^{}]|\mathrm{in}=0`$ can be satisfied.)

### 2.3 Bogolubov transformations

We now recall some standard results . Bogolubov transformations express the operators $`\widehat{a}_k`$, which annihilate the out-vacuum, in terms of $`\widehat{b}_k`$, and vice versa:

$$\widehat{a}_k=\underset{k^{}}{}\left(\alpha _{kk^{}}\widehat{b}_k^{}+\beta _{kk^{}}^{}\widehat{b}_k^{}^{}\right),\widehat{b}_k=\underset{k^{}}{}\left(\alpha _{kk^{}}^{}\widehat{a}_k^{}\beta _{kk^{}}^{}\widehat{a}_k^{}^{}\right).$$
(13)
The Bogolubov coefficients $`\alpha _{kk^{}}`$ and $`\beta _{kk^{}}`$ are determined by the overlap of the positive-frequency out-modes with the positive or negative frequency in-modes. The spatial modes are orthonormal, so the Bogolubov coefficients are diagonal in $`k`$:

$$\alpha _{kk^{}}\alpha _k\delta _{kk^{}}\beta _{kk^{}}\beta _k\delta _{kk^{}}.$$
(14)
The initial state can be written as a squeezed state ,

$$|\mathrm{in}=\underset{k}{}C_k\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2}\gamma _k\widehat{a}_k^{}\widehat{a}_k^{}\right)|\mathrm{out},$$
(15)
where $`C_k=(1|\gamma _k|^2)^{1/4}`$ so that $`\mathrm{in}|\mathrm{in}=1`$. Requiring that $`|\mathrm{in}`$ be annihilated by the $`\widehat{b}_k`$ implies (using (13) and the commutation algebra) that $`\gamma _k=\beta _k/\alpha _k^{}`$. Note that, by (15),

$$\gamma _k=\frac{\mathrm{out}|\widehat{a}_k\widehat{a}_k|\mathrm{in}}{\mathrm{out}|\mathrm{in}}.$$
(16)
We see that $`\gamma _k`$ is related to pair creation; indeed, it is the normalized probability amplitude for the in-vacuum to evolve at late times into a state that has two particles in it, $`\widehat{a}_k^{}\widehat{a}_k^{}|\mathrm{out}`$. The average number of particles produced is given by the expectation value of the number operator,

$$\mathrm{in}|\widehat{N}_k|\mathrm{in}=|\beta _k|^2=\frac{|\gamma _k|^2}{1|\gamma _k|^2},$$
(17)
where we have used the normalization condition $`|\alpha _k|^2|\beta _k|^2=1`$.

## 3 Pair Creation Using Only Out-Modes

The Feynman propagator is defined as the vacuum expectation value of the time-ordered product of field operators. However, the vacua appearing on the left and right of the operator product are different:

$$iG_F(k,\eta _1;k^{},\eta _2)=\frac{\mathrm{out}|T\widehat{\chi }_k(\eta _1)\widehat{\chi }_k^{}(\eta _2)|\mathrm{in}}{\mathrm{out}|\mathrm{in}}.$$
(18)
Writing $`\widehat{\chi }_k`$ in terms of modes that are positive-frequency at late times, $`\widehat{\chi }_k=\widehat{a}_ku_k(\eta )+\widehat{a}_k^{}u_k^{}(\eta )`$, we find that (for $`\eta _1>\eta _2`$)

$`iG_F(k,\eta _1;k^{},\eta _2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{out}|\widehat{a}_k\widehat{a}_k^{}^{}|\mathrm{in}}{\mathrm{out}|\mathrm{in}}}u_k(\eta _1)u_k^{}^{}(\eta _2)+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{out}|\widehat{a}_k\widehat{a}_k^{}|\mathrm{in}}{\mathrm{out}|\mathrm{in}}}u_k(\eta _1)u_k^{}(\eta _2)`$ (19)
$`=`$ $`\left(u_k(\eta _1)u_k^{}(\eta _2)\gamma _ku_k(\eta _1)u_k(\eta _2)\right)\delta _{kk^{}}.`$
To obtain the second term in the second line we used (15) and (16). Since, by (5), $`u_k(\eta )=u_k(\eta )`$ we will suppress all the $`k`$ indices henceforth. Then in general the Feynman propagator, expressed in terms of the out-modes, is simply

$$iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)=u(\eta _1)u^{}(\eta _2)\theta (\eta _{12})+u(\eta _2)u^{}(\eta _1)\theta (\eta _{21})\gamma u(\eta _1)u(\eta _2).$$
(20)
The first two terms are standard but the third term is a consequence of the in and out vacua being different. Moreover we see that the extra term, being proportional to $`\gamma `$, signals pair creation.

We set the boundary conditions at some time in the far past, $`\eta _0`$, using (11):

$$_{\eta _2}iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _2=\eta _0}=\frac{\mathrm{out}|\widehat{\chi }(\eta _1)(_\eta \widehat{\chi })(\eta _0)|\mathrm{in}}{\mathrm{out}|\mathrm{in}}=\frac{\mathrm{out}|\widehat{\chi }(\eta _1)(i\omega )\widehat{\chi }(\eta _0)|\mathrm{in}}{\mathrm{out}|\mathrm{in}}.$$
(21)
Hence the choice of initial state is encoded in the propagator as a boundary condition at $`\eta _0`$:

$$_{\eta _2}iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _2=\eta _0}=(i\omega )iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _0)\text{for }\eta _1>\eta _0.$$
(22)
Inserting (20) into (22), we find that

$$u(\eta _1)u^{}(\eta _0)\gamma u(\eta _1)u^{}(\eta _0)=i\omega \left(u(\eta _1)u^{}(\eta _0)\gamma u(\eta _1)u(\eta _0)\right),$$
(23)
so that

$$\gamma =\frac{\omega +i\mathrm{ln}u^{}(\eta _0)}{\omega +i\mathrm{ln}u(\eta _0)}\frac{u^{}(\eta _0)}{u(\eta _0)}.$$
(24)
We can simplify this expression by defining222Throughout this paper overbars indicate quantities associated with the reflected problem we will introduce in section 4. They do not indicate complex conjugation, which we denote with a .

$$\overline{\omega }i_\eta \mathrm{ln}u(\eta )|_{\eta =\eta _0}.$$
(25)
The amount of pair creation is determined by $`|\gamma |^2`$, which is given by

$$|\gamma |^2=\left|\frac{\omega \overline{\omega }^{}}{\omega +\overline{\omega }}\right|^2.$$
(26)
This is the equation we are after. It tells us that given $`\omega `$ and $`\overline{\omega }`$ one knows the amount of pair production. Since $`\omega `$ parameterizes our choice of initial state, the only thing one has to compute is $`\overline{\omega }`$. This one obtains from (25) by differentiating the out-modes at the point $`\eta _0`$ where the initial conditions are specified. Since one takes a logarithmic derivative, there is no need to normalize the out-modes. More importantly, there is no need to determine any in-modes: particle production can be evaluated without computing Bogolubov coefficients. We present several examples of this economical formalism in the appendix.

## 4 First-Quantized Formalism

Our derivation so far is self-contained and sufficient for calculating pair production. However we do not yet have a first-quantized formalism, since to compute $`\overline{\omega }`$ from (25) we still need the late-time positive-frequency modes. In this section we show how to obtain $`\overline{\omega }`$ without using mode solutions, by considering the Feynman propagator in an auxiliary spacetime. This will lead us to a fully first-quantized language for discussing particle production.

One might imagine that the Green’s function (18) could be expressed in first-quantized language as

$$iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)=\eta _1|\frac{i}{D^2+iϵ}|\eta _2=_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑se^{ϵs}_{\eta (0)=\eta _2,\eta (s)=\eta _1}𝒟\eta ()e^{iS[\eta ]}.$$
(27)
Here $`D^2(\eta )=_\eta ^2+V(\eta )`$ is the differential (Schrödinger) operator that acts on the modes in (5). We have introduced an $`iϵ`$ prescription to make the Green’s function well-defined, and given a path integral representation involving a Schwinger proper-time parameter $`s`$ and a worldline action $`S[\eta ]=𝑑t\left(\frac{1}{4}\dot{\eta }^2V(\eta )\right)`$. The basic difficulty with this representation is that, although the $`iϵ`$ prescription picks out definite in- and out-states, in a general curved background it is not clear exactly what those states are (p. 76 in ).

This difficulty can be overcome with the following trick. Consider a separate, auxiliary problem for which we reflect the spacetime symmetrically about $`\eta _0`$. We then have a new operator, $`\overline{D}^2(\eta )`$, defined by

$$\overline{D}^2(\eta )\{\begin{array}{cc}D^2(\eta )\hfill & \eta \eta _0\hfill \\ D^2(2\eta _0\eta )\hfill & \eta \eta _0.\hfill \end{array}$$
(28)
The corresponding potential $`\overline{V}(\eta )`$ is the reflection of $`V`$ about $`\eta _0`$. We define the Green’s function in this reflected problem with an $`iϵ`$ prescription, so that it can be computed in first-quantized terms.

$`i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)=\eta _1|{\displaystyle \frac{i}{\overline{D}^2+iϵ}}|\eta _2={\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑se^{ϵs}{\displaystyle _{\eta (0)=\eta _2,\eta (s)=\eta _1}}𝒟\eta ()e^{i\overline{S}[\eta ]}`$
$`\overline{S}[\eta ]={\displaystyle _0^s}𝑑t\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{d\eta }{dt}}\right)^2\overline{V}(\eta )\right).`$ (29)
Notice that, as we are throwing away the part of the potential before $`\eta _0`$, any early-time singularity of the potential is irrelevant. The reflected potential may have a cusp at $`\eta _0`$ but this causes no problems. The advantage of reflecting the potential is that the spacetime is now asymptotically adiabatic in the past as well as in the future, so the $`iϵ`$ prescription automatically selects the preferred in- and out-vacua of the reflected problem. That is, as $`\eta _1,\eta _2\pm \mathrm{}`$ the Green’s function obeys the adiabatic boundary conditions considered in sect. 2.1. For example333The proof is as follows. The Feynman propagator $`i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)=\eta _1|\frac{i}{\overline{D}^2+iϵ}|\eta _2`$. Insert a complete set of energy eigenstates $`\overline{D}^2|\omega =E(\omega )|\omega `$ and let $`\psi _\omega (\eta )=\eta |\omega `$. Adiabaticity implies that for $`\eta \eta _2`$ we can take $`\psi _\omega (\eta )\mathrm{exp}(i\omega \eta )`$ with $`E(\omega )\omega ^2+\overline{V}(\eta _2)`$. Then
$$i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\omega \rho (\omega )\frac{i}{\omega ^2\overline{V}(\eta _2)+iϵ}\psi _\omega (\eta _1)e^{i\omega \eta _2}$$
(30)  where $`\rho (\omega )`$ is the density of states. The usual contour deformation picks up the pole at $`\omega =\sqrt{\overline{V}(\eta _2)}iϵ`$, and (31) follows. Our approximations become exact as $`\eta _2\mathrm{}`$.

$$_{\eta _2}\mathrm{log}i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)i\sqrt{\overline{V}(\eta _2)}\text{as }\eta _2\mathrm{}\text{.}$$
(31)
Suppose we are given the Feynman propagator $`i\overline{G}_F`$ in the reflected problem. It turns out that $`\overline{\omega }`$ can be extracted from this auxiliary propagator. To see this, imagine we knew the modes $`\overline{u}(\eta )`$ that satisfy the reflected differential equation $`\overline{D}^2\overline{u}(\eta )=0`$. This is just a Schrödinger equation in a symmetric potential; a solution can be written in terms of the original unreflected modes as

$$\overline{u}(\eta )=\{\begin{array}{cc}c_1u^{}(\eta )+c_2u(\eta )\hfill & \eta \eta _0\hfill \\ u^{}(2\eta _0\eta )\hfill & \eta \eta _0.\hfill \end{array}$$
(32)
Recall that $`u`$ is assumed to be positive frequency at late times, so $`\overline{u}`$ is a positive frequency mode as $`\eta \mathrm{}`$. The coefficients $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$ are fixed by requiring that $`\overline{u}`$ and its first derivative are continuous at $`\eta _0`$. We will not need explicit expressions for $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$; indeed the whole point is that we won’t need to know the modes at all.

The Feynman propagator in the auxiliary problem can be expressed in terms of the reflected modes:

$`i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{u}(\eta _1)\overline{u}^{}(\eta _2)\theta (\eta _{12})+\overline{u}(\eta _2)\overline{u}^{}(\eta _1)\theta (\eta _{21})+\lambda _1\overline{u}(\eta _1)\overline{u}(\eta _2)`$ (33)
$`+\lambda _2[\overline{u}(\eta _1)\overline{u}^{}(\eta _2)+\overline{u}^{}(\eta _1)\overline{u}(\eta _2)]+\lambda _3\overline{u}^{}(\eta _1)\overline{u}^{}(\eta _2),`$
where the constants $`\lambda _i`$ are coefficients of possible homogeneous terms. Every Feynman propagator between arbitrary in- and out-states can be written in this manner. We fix the $`\lambda _i`$ by imposing boundary conditions corresponding to the initial and final states of the reflected problem, as determined by the $`iϵ`$ prescription. From (31) it follows that $`\lambda _1=\lambda _2=0`$. Imposing the analogous equation at late times leads to an expression for $`\lambda _3`$, but the precise form is unimportant. Having set $`\lambda _1`$ and $`\lambda _2`$ to zero, we take the derivative of the reflected Green’s function at $`\eta _0`$, and find

$$_{\eta _2}i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _1>\eta _2=\eta _0}=\left(_\eta \mathrm{log}\overline{u}^{}\right)|_{\eta =\eta _0}i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _0).$$
(34)
But

$$_\eta \mathrm{log}\overline{u}^{}|_{\eta =\eta _0}=_\eta \mathrm{log}u|_{\eta =\eta _0}=i\overline{\omega }$$
(35)
where we have used (32) and (25). So finally we arrive at

$$i\overline{\omega }=_{\eta _2}\mathrm{ln}i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _1>\eta _2=\eta _0}.$$
(36)
We see that we can determine $`\overline{\omega }`$ using only the propagator in the auxiliary reflected problem, without making any reference to mode functions. Representing $`i\overline{G}_F`$ as a particle path integral, this provides a fully first-quantized formalism for calculating cosmological pair production.

### 4.1 Path integrals and image charges

We conclude by showing how to represent the original Green’s function $`iG_F`$ in first-quantized language. Naively the propagator has the path integral representation (27); the difficulty is in understanding how to implement the correct boundary conditions at $`\eta _0`$.

To overcome this difficulty we express the original Green’s function using the method of images, as

$$iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)=i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)+qi\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,2\eta _0\eta _2),$$
(37)
where $`q`$ is an image charge that we will determine shortly. For $`\eta _1,\eta _2>\eta _0`$ note that $`iG_F`$ is indeed a Green’s function for the operator $`D^2(\eta )`$. It remains to implement the boundary condition at $`\eta _0`$ by choosing $`q`$ appropriately. From (22) we require

$$_{\eta _2}iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _1>\eta _2=\eta _0}=(i\omega )iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _0)$$
(38)
while from (37) we have

$$iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _0)=(1+q)i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _0)$$
(39)
and

$$_{\eta _2}iG_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _1>\eta _2=\eta _0}=(1q)_{\eta _2}i\overline{G}_F(\eta _1,\eta _2)|_{\eta _1>\eta _2=\eta _0}.$$
(40)
Using (36), we find that the image charge is given by

$$q=\frac{\overline{\omega }\omega }{\overline{\omega }+\omega }.$$
(41)
The method of images also provides a way of representing the original propagator in terms of a particle path integral. Use (37) to represent $`iG_F`$ as a sum of two particle path integrals in the auxiliary reflected potential. In each path integral fold the particle paths across $`\eta =\eta _0`$, to obtain particle worldlines that are restricted to satisfy $`\eta (s)\eta _0`$. Note that this folding leaves the worldline action invariant. By adding the two path integrals one can represent $`iG_F`$ as a single path integral, just as in (27), but where the particle paths are restricted to satisfy $`\eta (s)\eta _0`$, and where the boundary conditions at $`\eta =\eta _0`$ are enforced by weighting paths according to the rule

$`e^{iS[\eta ]}\text{for paths that touch }\eta _0\text{ an even number of times}`$
$`qe^{iS[\eta ]}\text{for paths that touch }\eta _0\text{ an odd number of times}`$ (42)
Similar constructions to enforce boundary conditions on the path integral are discussed in .

## 5 Conclusions

To summarize: given a cosmological background and a set of initial conditions specified by the parameters $`\omega _k`$, our recipe is to first compute the Green’s function in the reflected potential $`i\overline{G}_F`$. This determines the quantities $`\overline{\omega }_k`$ and hence the ratio of Bogolubov coefficients $`|\gamma _k|`$. This is all that is needed for particle production, since $`|\gamma _k|`$ controls the amount of particle production. Since $`i\overline{G}_F`$ can be computed from a particle path integral, we have achieved our goal of finding a first-quantized formalism for computing cosmological particle production.

Our approach has nice conceptual advantages over conventional Bogolubov techniques. The formation of a pair of particles from the vacuum intuitively suggests a U-shaped particle worldline, with the two endpoints of the U marking the two particle positions at late times, and with the bottom of the U marking (heuristically) the time of pair creation. Our approach makes this intuition precise, by giving a prescription (42) for obtaining the appropriate Feynman propagator $`iG_F`$ from an integral over particle paths. Moreover, in our approach the generalization to string theory is immediate: replace “particle worldlines” with “string worldsheets”.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Nori Iizuka for collaboration in the early stages of this project. We thank Brian Greene, Gilad Lifschytz, and Govindan Rajesh for valuable discussions. DK and MP are grateful to the organizers of the Amsterdam and Aspen workshops where part of this work was completed, and DK is grateful to the Rutgers theory group for its hospitality. AH is supported by DOE grant DE-FG02-92ER40699, DK is supported by DOE grant DE-FG02-92ER40699 and by US–Israel Bi-national Science Foundation grant #2000359, and MP is supported in part by DOE grant DF-FCO2-94ER40818.

## 6 Appendix: Examples

In this appendix, we demonstrate how the formalism of section 3 is applied by calculating pair production in various cosmological backgrounds. In practice, calculating particle production boils down to determining the late-time positive-frequency modes and taking their derivative at the point $`\eta _0`$ at which the initial conditions are imposed.

### 6.1 The Milne universe

The line element for a two-dimensional Milne universe is

$$ds^2=dt^2+s^2t^2dx^2=e^{2s\eta }\left(d\eta ^2+dx^2\right),$$
(43)
where $`\mathrm{}<\eta ,x<\mathrm{}`$. This space is simply the upper quadrant of Minkowski space. Consider a massive scalar field propagating in this geometry. The wave equation is

$$\left(_\eta ^2+k^2+m^2e^{2s\eta }\right)u_k(\eta )=0.$$
(44)
At early times the solutions are just plane waves so the natural choice for the in-vacuum is to set $`\omega =k`$. We will adopt this choice, which corresponds to the conformal vacuum , although we could easily consider different initial conditions. At late times the positive-frequency modes are Hankel functions:

$$u_k(\eta )=NH_\nu ^{(2)}\left((m/s)e^{s\eta }\right),$$
(45)
where $`\nu =ik/s`$ and $`N`$ is a normalization constant that we will not need to determine. Suppose we specify initial conditions in the infinite far past, $`\eta _0\mathrm{}`$. Then we need the behavior of the out-mode as $`\eta \mathrm{}`$. The Hankel function is proportional to $`J_\nu (x)e^{\pi k/s}J_\nu (x)`$ and, as $`x0`$,

$$J_\nu (x)(x/2)^\nu /\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\nu )=Ae^{ik\eta },$$
(46)
where $`A`$ is an $`\eta `$-independent constant. Particle production is controlled by

$$\overline{\omega }=i_\eta \mathrm{ln}H_\nu ^{(2)}(0)=k\frac{A^{}e^{ik\eta }+Ae^{\pi k/s}e^{ik\eta }}{A^{}e^{ik\eta }Ae^{\pi k/s}e^{ik\eta }}.$$
(47)
From this we obtain $`\gamma _k`$:

$$|\gamma _k|=\left|\frac{k\overline{\omega }^{}}{k+\overline{\omega }}\right|=e^{\pi k/s}.$$
(48)
The occupation number of a mode with momentum $`k`$ is, using (17),

$$\mathrm{in}|\widehat{N}_k|\mathrm{in}=\frac{1}{e^{2\pi k/s}1}.$$
(49)
This indicates that modes in the Milne universe are, up to mass corrections, populated according to a Planck spectrum with temperature $`T=s/2\pi `$. This is in accord with the standard result that the conformal vacuum appears thermal to a comoving observer .

### 6.2 A doubly-asymptotically-static universe

Consider a two-dimensional universe with scale factor

$$a^2(\eta )=A+B\mathrm{tanh}\rho \eta ,$$
(50)
where $`A,B,\rho `$ are positive constants. The wave equation is

$$\left(_\eta ^2+k^2+m^2\left(A+B\mathrm{tanh}\rho \eta \right)\right)u_k(\eta )=0.$$
(51)
This cosmology has no big bang; it is asymptotically static in the distant future as well as in the distant past. As $`\eta \pm \mathrm{}`$ the mode solutions behave like plane waves, albeit with different frequencies:

$$\omega _{\mathrm{out}}=(k^2+m^2(A+B))^{1/2}\omega _{\mathrm{in}}=(k^2+m^2(AB))^{1/2}.$$
(52)
It is useful to define $`\omega _\pm =(\omega _{\mathrm{out}}\pm \omega _{\mathrm{in}})/2`$. The mode function with positive frequency at late times is

$$u_k(\eta )=Ne^{i\omega _+\eta }(\mathrm{cosh}\rho \eta )^{i\omega _{}/\rho }F(a,b;c;(1/2)(1\mathrm{tanh}\rho \eta )),$$
(53)
where $`F`$ is a hypergeometric function with

$$a=1+i\omega _{}/\rho b=i\omega _{}/\rho c=1+i\omega _{\mathrm{out}}/\rho .$$
(54)
In the conventional approach  one would have to determine the modes that are positive-frequency at early times; these are just as messy as the late-time modes. One then has to find the linear transformation that relates the two sets of modes. But in our approach it suffices to note that the positive-frequency modes behave as plane waves at early times. Thus a natural choice is to set $`\omega =\omega _{\mathrm{in}}`$. To compute the particle production we need the logarithmic derivative of the out-modes evaluated in the far past. Defining $`x=(1/2)(1\mathrm{tanh}\rho \eta )`$, we expand $`F`$ around $`x=1`$:

$$F(a,b;c;x)(1x)^{cab}A+\mathrm{}+B+\mathrm{},$$
(55)
where the dots indicate terms that are unimportant as $`x1`$. Here A and B are

$$A=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(cab)\mathrm{\Gamma }(c)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(a)\mathrm{\Gamma }(b)}B=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(cab)\mathrm{\Gamma }(c)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(ca)\mathrm{\Gamma }(cb)}.$$
(56)
Then as $`\eta \mathrm{}`$ or $`x1`$, we have

$$\overline{\omega }=\omega _{\mathrm{in}}\left(1\frac{2A(1x)^{iw_{\mathrm{in}}/\rho }}{(1x)^{iw_{\mathrm{in}}/\rho }A+B}\right)|_{x=1}.$$
(57)
Some simple algebra yields

$$|\gamma |=|A/B|=\left|\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(i\omega _+/\rho )\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+i\omega _+/\rho )}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(i\omega _{}/\rho )\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+i\omega _{}/\rho )}\right|,$$
(58)
which agrees precisely with the result obtained by conventional methods .

### 6.3 Power-law FRW

In the two preceding examples the mode solutions reduce to plane waves at early times. A natural choice for the in-vacuum was therefore one in which the annihilation operator $`\widehat{b}_k`$ is paired with $`\mathrm{exp}(i\omega _{\mathrm{in}}\eta )`$ so that $`\omega =\omega _{\mathrm{in}}`$. In a general cosmological background, however, there is no preferred vacuum state at early times, and $`\omega `$ is just a parameter that characterizes the initial state. For example consider a 3+1-dimensional Robertson-Walker spacetime with a power-law scale factor, $`a(t)t^c`$. We consider $`0<c<1`$ so the expansion is decelerating. The line element reads

$$ds^2=dt^2+a^2(t)d\mathrm{\Sigma }_3^2=C^2\eta ^{\frac{2c}{1c}}(d\eta ^2+d\mathrm{\Sigma }_3^2),$$
(59)
where $`0<\eta <\mathrm{}`$ and $`C`$ is an unimportant constant. A massless minimally-coupled real scalar field $`\varphi (x)`$ can be conveniently written as $`\varphi (x)=\chi (x)/a(\eta )`$. The mode equation is

$$\left(_\eta ^2+k^2\frac{\nu ^21/4}{\eta ^2}\right)\chi _k(\eta )=0,\nu =\frac{3c1}{2(1c)}.$$
(60)
If $`\nu ^21/4`$ the solutions do not resemble plane waves at early times and there is no natural choice for $`\omega `$. Let us pick some arbitrary time $`\eta _0`$ at which to fix our choice of initial state. Define $`\widehat{\chi }_k(\eta _0)=\widehat{\chi }_0`$ and $`(_\eta \widehat{\chi }_k)(\eta _0)=\widehat{\pi }_0`$. As before, define an operator

$$\widehat{b}_k=N_k\left(\widehat{\chi }_0+i\frac{\widehat{\pi }_0}{\omega _k}\right),$$
(61)
and set $`\widehat{b}_k|\mathrm{in}=0`$. This implies that

$$\widehat{\pi }_0|\mathrm{in}=i\omega _k\widehat{\chi }_0|\mathrm{in}.$$
(62)
The out-vacuum is unique, since the field evolves adiabatically at late times. The positive-frequency modes at late times are

$$u_k(\eta )=N\sqrt{\eta }H_\nu ^{(2)}(k\eta ),$$
(63)
so that

$$\overline{\omega }=i_\eta \mathrm{ln}\sqrt{\eta }H_\nu ^{(2)}(k\eta )|_{\eta =\eta _0}.$$
(64)
To see what happens as $`\eta _00`$, expand $`u_k(\eta )`$ around $`\eta =0`$, keeping the lowest order real and imaginary terms:

$`\overline{\omega }`$ $``$ $`i_\eta \mathrm{ln}\left[A\left({\displaystyle \frac{k\eta }{2}}\right)^{\nu +1/2}+iB\left({\displaystyle \frac{k\eta }{2}}\right)^{1/2\nu }\right]|_{\eta =\eta _0}`$ (65)
$`=`$ $`i_\eta \mathrm{ln}\left[\left(1i{\displaystyle \frac{A}{B}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{k\eta }{2}}\right)^{2\nu }\right)\left(iB\left({\displaystyle \frac{k\eta }{2}}\right)^{1/2\nu }\right)\right]|_{\eta =\eta _0}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{k\nu \mathrm{\Gamma }(1\nu )}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\nu )}}\mathrm{sin}(\nu \pi )\left({\displaystyle \frac{k\eta _0}{2}}\right)^{2\nu 1}+{\displaystyle \frac{2\nu 1}{2i\eta _0}},`$
where $`A=\sqrt{\frac{2}{k}}\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\nu )}`$, $`B=\sqrt{\frac{2}{k}}\frac{\mathrm{csc}(\nu \pi )}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1\nu )}`$, and in going from the second to the third line we expanded the log about $`1`$. Particle production is controlled by

$$|\gamma |\left|\frac{\omega \frac{k\nu \mathrm{\Gamma }(1\nu )}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\nu )}\mathrm{sin}(\nu \pi )\left(\frac{k\eta _0}{2}\right)^{2\nu 1}+i\frac{(\frac{1}{2}\nu )}{\eta _0}}{\omega +\frac{k\nu \mathrm{\Gamma }(1\nu )}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\nu )}\mathrm{sin}(\nu \pi )\left(\frac{k\eta _0}{2}\right)^{2\nu 1}+i\frac{(\frac{1}{2}\nu )}{\eta _0}}\right|.$$
(66)
This approaches unity for $`\nu ^21/4`$, since the imaginary term dominates as $`\eta _00`$. Hence the pair production diverges, a result which perhaps is merely a sign that the initial condition should not be applied strictly at $`\eta _0=0`$ where the geometry is singular. However, for $`\nu =\pm 1/2`$, which corresponds to $`c=0`$ (a static universe) or $`c=1/2`$ (a radiation-dominated universe), $`|\gamma |`$ simplifies greatly to

$$|\gamma |=\left|\frac{k\omega }{k+\omega }\right|.$$
(67)
This result follows from the fact that for $`\nu ^2=1/4`$ the Hankel function reduces to a plane wave with energy $`k`$. If one sets $`\omega =k`$ then $`|\mathrm{in}`$ is identical to $`|\mathrm{out}`$, so there should be no particle production, and indeed for this value of $`\omega `$ we see that $`\gamma `$ vanishes.