Rotating quantum states

We revisit the definition of rotating thermal states for scalar and fermion fields in unbounded Minkowski space–time. For scalar fields such states are ill-defined everywhere, but for fermion fields an appropriate definition of the vacuum gives thermal states regular inside the speed-of-light surface. For a massless fermion field, we derive analytic expressions for the thermal expectation values of the fermion current and stress–energy tensor. These expressions may provide qualitative insights into the behaviour of thermal rotating states on more complex space–time geometries.