Superluminal dispersion relations and the Unruh effect

2008/02/29 by Massimiliano Rinaldi
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #gr-qc #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.124029

published as Phys.Rev.D77:124029,2008 · Final discussion expanded, references added. Version accepted for publication in Phys Rev D

arxiv created 2008/05/26 · openalex publication_date 2008/06/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

In the context of quantum gravity phenomenology, we study the Unruh effect in the presence of superluminal dispersion relations. In particular, we estimate the response function and the probability rate for an accelerated detector coupled to a massless scalar field, whose dispersion relation becomes essentially quadratic beyond a threshold momentum k_p. By means of a perturbative analysis, we show that superluminal dispersion induces a correction to the Planckian spectrum, which tends to vanish as k_p increases.

Citations

• Two-dimensional gravity with a dynamical aether
• Quantum Fields in Curved Space
• Hawking radiation without trans-Planckian frequencies
• Gravity with a dynamical preferred frame
• Trans-Planckian problem of inflationary cosmology