Unruh effect and information flow

TL;DR

This paper explores how finite-time acceleration of a detector in Minkowski space affects information backflow, revealing a link between the detector's trajectory and information flow, thus offering new insights into the Unruh effect.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic finite-time acceleration scenario to study information backflow, connecting the detector's trajectory with quantum information flow in the context of the Unruh effect.

Findings

Information backflow can occur with finite-time acceleration.

The detector's trajectory influences the behavior of information flow.

New perspective on the Unruh effect using quantum information theory.

Abstract

We study memory effects as information backflow for an accelerating two-level detector weakly interacting with a scalar field in the Minkowski vacuum. This is the framework of the well-known Unruh effect: the detector behaves as if it were in a thermal bath with a temperature proportional to its acceleration. Here we show that if we relax the usual assumption of an eternally uniformly accelerating system, and we instead consider the more realistic case in which a finite-size detector starts accelerating at a certain time, information backflow may appear in the dynamics. Our results demonstrate the existence of a connection between the trajectory of the detector in Minkowski space and the behavior of information flow. This allows us to inspect the Unruh effect under a new light, making use of the latest developments in quantum information theory and open quantum systems.