A test of the circular Unruh effect using atomic electrons

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experimental test for the circular Unruh effect by observing electron energy level occupancy shifts in atoms like fluorine and oxygen caused by high centripetal acceleration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach to detect the circular Unruh effect using atomic electron energy level measurements.

Findings

Unruh temperature range of 1000-2000 K for certain atoms

Predicted shift in electron energy level occupancy due to Unruh effect

Potential to observe Unruh effect through deviations from thermal expectations

Abstract

We propose a test for the circular Unruh effect using certain atoms - fluorine and oxygen. For these atoms the centripetal acceleration of the outer shell electrons implies an effective Unruh temperature in the range 1000 - 2000 K. This range of Unruh temperatures is large enough to shift the expected occupancy of the lowest energy level and nearby energy levels. In effect the Unruh temperature changes the expected pure ground state, with all the electrons in the lowest energy level, to a mixed state with some larger than expected occupancy of states near to the lowest energy level. Examining these atoms at low background temperatures and finding a larger than expected number of electrons in low lying excited levels, beyond what is expected due to the background thermal excitation, would provide experimental evidence for the Unruh effect.