On the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes

Abstract

The connection between spin and statistics is examined in the context of locally covariant quantum field theory.A generalization is proposed in which locally covariant theories are defined as functors from a category of framed spacetimes to a category of *-algebras. This allows for a more operational description of theories with spin, and for the derivation of a more general version of the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes than previously available. The proof involves a "rigidity argument" that is also applied in the standard setting of locally covariant quantum field theory to show how properties such as Einstein causality can be transferred from Minkowski spacetime to general curved spacetimes.