2005/01/10 by Philip R. Johnson, B. L. Hu · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Event horizon #Lorentz transformation #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum field theory #Quantum mechanics #Semiclassical physics #Spacetime #Unruh effect #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10701-005-6404-1
published as Found.Phys. 35 (2005) 1117-1147 · Invited talk given by BLH at the International Assembly on Relativistic Dynamics (IARD), June 2004, Saas Fee, Switzerland. 19 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2005/01/10 · openalex publication_date 2005/07/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a stochastic theory for the nonequilibrium dynamics of charges moving in a quantum scalar field based on the worldline influence functional and the close-time-path (CTP or in-in) coarse-grained effective action method. We summarize (1) the steps leading to a derivation of a modified Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac equation whose solutions describe a causal semiclassical theory free of runaway solutions and without pre-acceleration patholigies, and (2) the transformation to a stochastic effective action which generates Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac-Langevin equations depicting the fluctuations of a particle's worldline around its semiclassical trajectory. We point out the misconceptions in trying to directly relate radiation reaction to vacuum fluctuations, and discuss how, in the framework that we have developed, an array of phenomena, from classical radiation and radiation reaction to the Unruh effect, are interrelated to each other as manifestations at the classical, stochastic and quantum levels. Using this method we give a derivation of the Unruh effect for the spacetime worldline coordinates of an accelerating charge. Our stochastic particle-field model, which was inspired by earlier work in cosmological backreaction, can be used as an analog to the black hole backreaction problem describing the stochastic dynamics of a black hole event horizon.