Acceleration and radiation: Classical and quantum aspects

TL;DR

This paper explores the classical and quantum aspects of radiation from accelerated particles, revealing how the Unruh effect underpins classical radiation phenomena and examining the role of zero-Rindler-energy particles.

Contribution

It demonstrates the connection between the quantum Unruh effect and classical radiation, emphasizing the role of zero-Rindler-energy particles in both contexts.

Findings

Quantum Unruh effect explains classical radiation from accelerated charges.

Zero-Rindler-energy particles are central to understanding radiation in accelerated frames.

Classical and quantum perspectives are unified in the analysis of radiation phenomena.

Abstract

It has been known for some time that the classical concept of radiation is not covariant: for uniformly accelerated particles, it depends on the state of motion of the observer relative to the particle emitting it. Moreover, recent literature in the field of Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetimes suggests a deep connection between bremsstrahlung and the Unruh effect, where zero-Rindler energy particles have played a central role beyond constructing the radiation contents of systems; as this is an unfamiliar concept, it seems unsettling to deal with particles having no energy. This thesis studies such a connection in both the classical and quantum perspectives, showing how the quantum Unruh effect is responsible for the classical radiation detected for the electric and gravitational cases, and studies the role of zero-Rindler-energy particles and how they relate to the radiative field of uniformly accelerated particles.