Detecting acceleration-enhanced vacuum fluctuations with atoms inside a cavity
Detecting acceleration-enhanced vacuum fluctuations with atoms inside a cavity
Some of the most prominent theoretical predictions of modern times, e.g., the Unruh effect, Hawking radiation, and gravity-assisted particle creation, are supported by from the fact that various quantum constructs like particle content and vacuum fluctuations of a quantum field are observer-dependent. Despite being fundamental in nature, these predictions have not yet been experimentally verified because one needs extremely strong gravity (or acceleration) to bring them within the existing experimental resolution. In this Letter, we demonstrate that a post-Newtonian rotating atom inside a far-detuned cavity experiences strongly modified quantum fluctuations in the inertial vacuum. As a result, the emission rate of an excited atom gets enhanced significantly along with a shift in the emission spectrum due to the change in the quantum correlation under rotation. We propose an optomechanical setup that is capable of realizing such acceleration-induced particle creation with current technology. This provides a novel and potentially feasible experimental proposal for the direct detection of noninertial quantum field theoretic effects.
Goyal, Sandeep
206d68a3-68db-443b-bd70-8e33676cdcf1
Ulbricht, Hendrik
5060dd43-2dc1-47f8-9339-c1a26719527d
Vinante, Andrea
f023d600-0537-41c4-b307-bf9cdfc1f56c
Lochan, Kinjalk
e06eed7d-4414-4842-b5d9-809c7934f827
11 December 2020
Goyal, Sandeep
206d68a3-68db-443b-bd70-8e33676cdcf1
Ulbricht, Hendrik
5060dd43-2dc1-47f8-9339-c1a26719527d
Vinante, Andrea
f023d600-0537-41c4-b307-bf9cdfc1f56c
Lochan, Kinjalk
e06eed7d-4414-4842-b5d9-809c7934f827
Goyal, Sandeep, Ulbricht, Hendrik, Vinante, Andrea and Lochan, Kinjalk
(2020)
Detecting acceleration-enhanced vacuum fluctuations with atoms inside a cavity.
Physical Review Letters, 125, [241301].
(doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.241301).
Abstract
Some of the most prominent theoretical predictions of modern times, e.g., the Unruh effect, Hawking radiation, and gravity-assisted particle creation, are supported by from the fact that various quantum constructs like particle content and vacuum fluctuations of a quantum field are observer-dependent. Despite being fundamental in nature, these predictions have not yet been experimentally verified because one needs extremely strong gravity (or acceleration) to bring them within the existing experimental resolution. In this Letter, we demonstrate that a post-Newtonian rotating atom inside a far-detuned cavity experiences strongly modified quantum fluctuations in the inertial vacuum. As a result, the emission rate of an excited atom gets enhanced significantly along with a shift in the emission spectrum due to the change in the quantum correlation under rotation. We propose an optomechanical setup that is capable of realizing such acceleration-induced particle creation with current technology. This provides a novel and potentially feasible experimental proposal for the direct detection of noninertial quantum field theoretic effects.
Text
Detecting Acceleration-Enhanced Vacuum Fluctuations with Atoms Inside a Cavity
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 10 November 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 December 2020
Published date: 11 December 2020
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 446638
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/446638
ISSN: 1079-7114
PURE UUID: 993b5c84-507e-4c22-9814-ccbf120d365b
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Date deposited: 16 Feb 2021 17:36
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:15
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Contributors
Author:
Sandeep Goyal
Author:
Andrea Vinante
Author:
Kinjalk Lochan
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