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Published May 15, 2009 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Causality as an emergent macroscopic phenomenon: The Lee-Wick O(N) model

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of California, San Diego
  • 2. ROR icon Institute for Advanced Study
  • 3. ROR icon California Institute of Technology

Abstract

In quantum mechanics the deterministic property of classical physics is an emergent phenomenon appropriate only on macroscopic scales. Lee and Wick introduced Lorentz invariant quantum theories where causality is an emergent phenomenon appropriate for macroscopic time scales. In this paper we analyze a Lee-Wick version of the O(N) model. We argue that in the large-N limit this theory has a unitary and Lorentz invariant S matrix and is therefore free of paradoxes in scattering experiments. We discuss some of its acausal properties.

Additional Information

© 2009 The American Physical Society. Received 18 October 2008; published 21 May 2009. We thank David Politzer for important contributions to this work. The work of B. G., D. O. and M. B.W was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-FG03-97ER40546, No. DE-FG02- 90ER40542, and No. DE-FG03-92ER40701, respectively. PACS: 11.10.-z; 03.70.+k.

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
14721
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20090729-111648871

Funding

Department of Energy
DE-FG03-97ER40546
Department of Energy
DE-FG02-90ER40542
Department of Energy
DE-FG03-92ER40701

Dates

Created
2009-08-07
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-08
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

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Caltech groups
Physics Department