Vacuum friction of uniformly accelerated detector

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a uniformly extended detector's response, revealing it is caused by quantum field fluctuations rather than a thermal bath, similar to the Unruh detector.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a uniformly extended detector's excitation results from quantum fluctuations, not thermal effects, aligning its response with that of the Unruh detector.

Findings

Detector response matches Unruh detector response

Excitation caused by quantum fluctuations, not thermal bath

Extended detector's behavior explained by virtual quanta

Abstract

The analysis of uniformly longitudinally extended detector is performed and it is shown that the response of such a detector does not differ from the response of the Unruh detector, but the its excitation is caused not by the thermal bath, but by interaction with the fluctuations of the quantum field by virtual quanta.