What is a particle?

Theoretical developments related to gravitational interaction have questioned the notion of particle in quantum field theory (QFT). For instance, uniquely defined particle states do not exist in general, in QFT on a curved spacetime. More generally, particle states are difficult to define in a background-independent quantum theory of gravity. These difficulties have led some to suggest that in general QFT should not be interpreted in terms of particle states, but rather in terms of eigenstates of local operators. Still, it is not obvious how to reconcile this view with the empirically-observed ubiquitous particle-like behavior of quantum fields, apparent for instance in experimental high-energy physics, or ‘particle’ physics. Here we offer an element of clarification by observing that already in flat space there exist—strictly speaking—two distinct notions of particles: globally defined n-particle Fock-states and local particle states. The last describes the physical objects detected by finite-size particle detectors and are eigenstates of local field operators. In the limit in which the particle detectors are appropriately large, global and local particle states converge in a weak topology (but not in norm). This observation has little relevance for flat-space theories—it amounts to a reminder that there are boundary effects in realistic detectors—but is relevant for gravity. It reconciles the two points of view mentioned above. More importantly, it provides a definition of the local particle state that remains well defined even when the conventional global particle states are not defined. This definition plays an important role in quantum gravity.