2005/10/28 by Björn Garbrecht, Bjorn Garbrecht, Tomislav Prokopec
Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/23/11/015
published as Class.Quant.Grav. 23 (2006) 3917-3934 · 20 pages
arxiv created 2005/10/28 · openalex publication_date 2006/05/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We argue that the energy levels of an Unruh detector experience an effect similar to the Lamb shift in quantum electrodynamics. As a consequence, the spectrum of energy levels in a curved background is different from that in flat space. As examples, we consider a detector in an expanding universe and in Rindler space, and for the latter case we suggest a new expression for the local virtual energy density seen by an accelerated observer. In the ultraviolet domain, that is when the space between the energy levels is larger than the Hubble rate or the acceleration of the detector, the Lamb shift quantitatively dominates over the thermal response rate.