Boost charge of a one-dimensional scalar field

ID: boost-charge-of-a-one-dimensional-scalar-field

For a free massless real scalar field with wave speed set to one and metric , define and . Its symmetric stress-energy tensor is . The Lorentz current has density and flux . Its conserved charge is the displayed expression when boundary flux vanishes. In one spatial dimension it generates boosts, not spatial rotations; there is no independent purely spatial angular-momentum component. Its conservation says that the center of energy moves uniformly. This is a symmetry of the wave-field model and need not survive boundaries or additional material effects.

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