Acceleration and vacuum temperature

TL;DR

This paper explores the relationship between vacuum fluctuations under acceleration and electromagnetic fields, proposing a link between the effective temperature and the Unruh temperature, with implications for particle production and experimental distinguishability.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the vacuum temperature in an electromagnetic field matches the Unruh temperature for a specific gyromagnetic factor, and suggests experimental tests to distinguish different theoretical cases.

Findings

Vacuum temperature for g=1 equals the Unruh temperature.

Particle production rates differ for g=0,1,2, with g=1 being experimentally distinguishable.

Potential implications for understanding accelerated observers and quantum field effects.

Abstract

The quantum fluctuations of an "accelerated" vacuum state, that is vacuum fluctuations in the presence of a constant electromagnetic field, can be described by the temperature $\TEH$. Considering $\TEH$ for the gyromagnetic factor $g=1$ we show that $\TEH(g=1)=\THU$, where $\THU$ is the Unruh temperature experienced by an accelerated observer. We conjecture that both particle production and nonlinear field effects inherent in the Unruh accelerated observer case are described by the case $g=1$ QED of strong fields. We present rates of particle production for $g=0,1,2$ and show that the case $g=1$ is experimentally distinguishable from $g=0,2$. Therefore, either accelerated observers are distinguishable from accelerated vacuum or there is unexpected modification of the theoretical framework.