Microlocal Analysis and¶Interacting Quantum Field Theories:¶Renormalization on Physical Backgrounds

We present a perturbative construction of interacting quantum field theories on smooth globally hyperbolic (curved) space-times. We develop a purely local version of the Stückelberg–Bogoliubov–Epstein–Glaser method of renormalization by using techniques from microlocal analysis. Relying on recent results of Radzikowski, Köhler and the authors about a formulation of a local spectrum condition in terms of wave front sets of correlation functions of quantum fields on curved space-times, we construct time-ordered operator-valued products of Wick polynomials of free fields. They serve as building blocks for a local (perturbative) definition of interacting fields. Renormalization in this framework amounts to extensions of expectation values of time-ordered products to all points of space-time. The extensions are classified according to a microlocal generalization of Steinmann scaling degree corresponding to the degree of divergence in other renormalization schemes.