A prescription is given to specify the high-k behavior for the Gaussian width of a Schrödinger wave functional for a scalar field in a Robertson-Walker flat background. The prescription corresponds to a construction which produces nearly Minkowski behavior for the high-frequency modes, and is analogous to the well-known ‘‘adiabatic method’’ previously developed in the canonical formalism. The specified high-k behavior leads to divergences in 〈$T_{\mu \nu }$〉 which agree with the poles appearing in the DeWitt-Schwinger expansion of this quantity.

• Received 31 May 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.38.3648