Accelerated electron thermometer: observation of 1D Planck radiation

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of thermal photons emitted from an accelerated electron, confirming a one-dimensional Planck spectrum consistent with the dynamical Casimir effect, advancing understanding of quantum radiation phenomena.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of 1D Planck radiation from accelerated electrons, linking the dynamical Casimir effect with observable thermal photon spectra.

Findings

Photon spectrum matches thermal distribution

Supports the moving mirror model prediction

Photon temperature aligns with theoretical expectations

Abstract

We report on the observation of thermal photons from an accelerated electron via examination of radiative beta decay of free neutrons measured by the RDK II collaboration. The emitted photon spectrum is shown to corroborate a thermal distribution consistent with the dynamical Casimir effect. Supported by a robust chi-squared statistic, we find the photons reside in a one-dimensional Planck spectrum with a temperature predicted by the moving mirror model.