Does an accelerated mirror suffer hindrance from vacuum?

TL;DR

This paper investigates how accelerated mirrors influence the photonic Unruh effect, revealing that a single mirror causes frequency quantization and affects photon production in non-inertial frames.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of Maxwell's equations in Rindler coordinates with boundary conditions, demonstrating the impact of mirrors on quantum field behavior under acceleration.

Findings

Single reflective surface induces frequency quantization.

Photon number per mode estimated using Hankel functions.

Mirror presence affects the Unruh effect in accelerated frames.

Abstract

We study the accelerated motion of mirrors and the photonic Unruh effect. The solutions of Maxwell's equations with appropriate boundary conditions in Rindler coordinates are found. The canonical quantization of the field is carried out properly. Important consequences arise from the presence of mirrors or polarizers. It is shown that a single reflective surface produces frequency quantization due to Dirichlet conditions applied to the $-1/(\alpha x)^2$ anomalous potential for non-inertial observers. The number of photons per accelerated mode is estimated via Hankel functions.