From spin groups and modular P$_1$CT symmetry to covariant representations and the spin-statistics theorem

Starting from the assumption of modular P1CT symmetry in quantum field theory a representation of the universal covering of the Poincare group is constructed in terms of pairs of modular conjugations. The modular conjugations are associated with field algebras of unbounded operators localised in wedge regions. It turns out that an essential step consists in characterising the universal covering group of the Lorentz group by pairs of wedge regions, in conjunction with an analysis of its geometrical properties. In this thesis two approaches to this problem will be developed in four spacetime dimensions. First a realisation of the universal covering as the quotient space over the set of pairs of wedge regions will be presented. In spite of the intuitive definition, the necessary properties of a covering space are not straightforward to prove. But the geometrical properties are easy to handle. The second approach takes advantage of the well-known features of spin groups, given as subgroups of Clifford algebras. Characterising elements of spin groups by pairs of wedge regions is possible in an elegant manner. The geometrical analysis is performed by means of the results achieved in the first approach. These geometrical properties allow for constructing a representation of the universal cover of the Lorentz group in terms of pairs of modular conjugations. For this representation the derivation of the spin-statistics theorem is straightforward, and a PCT operator can be defined. Furthermore, it is possible to transfer the results to nets of field algebras in algebraic quantum field theory with ease. Many of the usual assumptions in quantum field theory like the spectrum condition or the existence of a covariant unitary representation, as well as the assumption on the quantum field to have only finitely many components, are not required. For the standard axioms, the crucial assumption of modular P1CT symmetry constitutes no loss of generality because it is a consequence of these.