IFT Colloquium
February 14, 2025
2:10 PM in 2165 NPB
How proper mass and rest energy differ in de Sitter and Anti de Sitter space-times
In Minkowski spacetime, proper mass and spin are the two invariants that uniquely characterize the unitary irreducible representations of the Poincaré group, and the concepts of proper mass and rest energy for a free elementary system are indistinguishable. The Poincaré group admits exactly two deformations with maximal symmetry, corresponding to the kinematic symmetries of de Sitter (dS) and anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes. Analogous to their shared flat-spacetime limit, two invariants characterize the unitary irreducible representations associated with dS and AdS elementary systems: spin and energy scale for de Sitter, and spin and rest energy for anti-de Sitter. In this talk, I will demonstrate how proper mass and rest energy of these systems vary as functions of curvature and spin. Notably, in AdS spacetime, rest energy comprises two components: a purely mass-related term and a zero-point energy term arising from curvature. This unique feature offers an intriguing perspective on the nature of dark matter.