Quantum field theory measurements for relativistic particles
Phys. Rev. D 114, 045011 – Published 13 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/tvd2-c113
Abstract
The formulation of a consistent measurement theory for relativistic quantum fields has become a problem of growing foundational and practical significance. Standard nonrelativistic measurement models are not designed to incorporate relativistic notions such as locality, causality, and Lorentz covariance. While most existing work focuses on scalar fields, realistic particles possess spin, polarization, and internal degrees of freedom that introduce new conceptual and operational challenges. To this end, we extend the quantum temporal probabilities (QTP) framework for relativistic measurements to describe electromagnetic, Dirac, and internally structured scalar fields. Our results include probabilities for the time-of-arrival that take spin/polarization into account, generalized photodetection formulas beyond Glauber’s theory, an operational treatment of particle oscillations based on time-of-arrival measurements, together with an analysis of the assumptions underlying the standard oscillation formula, and a measurement-theoretic analysis of relativistic qudits.