The Hawking-Unruh phenomenon on graphene

TL;DR

This paper proposes that a specific shape of graphene can simulate a curved spacetime, leading to a Hawking-Unruh effect observable via local density of states measurements with an STM.

Contribution

It introduces a novel geometric configuration of graphene that mimics a relativistic background, enabling the study of Hawking-Unruh phenomena in a condensed matter system.

Findings

Finite temperature local density of states in the proposed graphene shape

Theoretical prediction of Hawking-Unruh effect in graphene

Feasibility of experimental detection using STM

Abstract

We find that, for a very specific shape of a monolayer graphene sample, a general relativistic-like description of a back-ground spacetime for graphene's conductivity electrons is very natural. The corresponding electronic local density of states is of finite temperature. This is a Hawking-Unruh effect that we propose to detect through an experiment with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope.