Foundations of Relational Quantum Field Theory I: Scalars

Abstract: We develop foundations for a relational approach to quantum field theory (RQFT) based on the operational quantum reference frames (QRFs) framework considered in a relativistic setting. Unlike other efforts in combining QFT with QRFs, we use the latter to provide novel mathematical and conceptual foundations for the former. We focus on scalar fields in Minkowski spacetime and discuss the emergence of relational local (bounded) observables and (pointwise) fields from the consideration of Poincar\'e-covariant (quantum) frame observables defined over the space of (classical) inertial reference frames. We recover a relational notion of Poincar\'e covariance, with transformations on the system directly linked to the state preparations of the QRF. We introduce and analyse various causality conditions and how they can arise as a consequence of the properties of the frame itself. The theory makes direct contact with established foundational approaches to QFT: we demonstrate that the vacuum expectation values derived within our framework reproduce many of the essential properties of Wightman functions, carry out a detailed comparison of the proposed formalism with Wightman QFT with the frame smearing functions describing the QRF's localisation uncertainty playing the role of the Wightmanian test functions, and show how the algebras generated by relational local observables satisfy all of the core axioms of Algebraic QFT. We finish with an extensive outlook describing a number of further research directions. This work is an early step in revisiting the mathematical foundations of QFT from a relational and operational perspective.