Quantum aspects of spacetime: A quantum optics view of acceleration radiation and black holes

TL;DR

This paper reviews how quantum optics tools illuminate the quantum features of acceleration radiation near black holes, emphasizing the interplay of quantum information, thermalization, and spacetime properties in gravitational physics.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum optics perspective on acceleration radiation and black holes, highlighting the role of quantum features in nontrivial spacetime phenomena and thermodynamics.

Findings

Horizon-brightened radiation (HBAR) exemplifies quantum effects in black hole spacetimes.

Quantum physics underpins the thermal and informational aspects of acceleration radiation.

The review connects quantum optics with black hole thermodynamics.

Abstract

For the centennial of quantum mechanics, we offer an overview of the central role played by quantum information and thermalization in problems involving fundamental properties of spacetime and gravitational physics. This is an open area of research still a century after the initial development of formal quantum mechanics, highlighting the effectiveness of quantum physics in the description of all natural phenomena. These remarkable connections can be highlighted with the tools of modern quantum optics, which effectively addresses the three-fold interplay of interacting atoms, fields, and spacetime backgrounds describing gravitational fields and noninertial systems. In this review article, we select aspects of these phenomena centered on quantum features of the acceleration radiation of particles in the presence of black holes. The ensuing horizon-brightened radiation (HBAR) provides a case study of the role played by quantum physics in nontrivial spacetime behavior, and also shows a fundamental correspondence with black hole thermodynamics.