How often does the Unruh–DeWitt detector click? Regularization by a spatial profile

2006/06/30 by Jorma Louko, Alejandro Satz · 188 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Detector #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #Massless particle #Mathematical physics #Minkowski space #Optics #Perturbation (astronomy) #Physics #Propagator #Quantum #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Regularization (linguistics) #Scalar (mathematics) #Scalar field #Unruh effect #gr-qc #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/23/22/015

published in Classical and Quantum Gravity 23(22), 6321-6343 (IOP Publishing) · 30 pages, 1 figure. v3: Added references and minor clarifications

openalex publication_date 2006/10/06 · arxiv created 2006/10/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We analyse within first-order perturbation theory the instantaneous transition rate of an accelerated Unruh–DeWitt particle detector whose coupling to a massless scalar field on four-dimensional Minkowski space is regularized by a spatial profile. For the Lorentzian profile introduced by Schlicht, the zero-size limit is computed explicitly and expressed as a manifestly finite integral formula that no longer involves regulators or limits. The same transition rate is obtained for an arbitrary profile of compact support under a modified definition of spatial smearing. Consequences for the asymptotic behaviour of the transition rate are discussed. A number of stationary and nonstationary trajectories are analysed, recovering in particular the Planckian spectrum for uniform acceleration.

Citations

• Detecting the rotating quantum vacuum
• Imprints of Spacetime Topology in the Hawking-Unruh Effect
• A Semi-Analytical Method for the Evaluation of the Power Spectrum of a Rotating Observer
• Quantum Fields in Curved Space
• THERMAL RADIATION OF VARIOUS GRAVITATIONAL BACKGROUNDS
• Self-force via a Green’s function decomposition
• Particle creation by black holes
• The motion of point particles in curved spacetime

Cited by

• Relativistic deceleration vs acceleration, Unruh effect observation, and the Schott energy
• Corrections to the Unruh Effect from Robin Boundary Conditions in Punctured Minkowski Spacetime
• Response of the Unruh-DeWitt detector in flat spacetime with a compact dimension
• Time evolution techniques for detectors in relativistic quantum information
• Voyage to Alpha Centauri: Entanglement degradation of cavity modes due to motion
• Unruh effect for general trajectories
• Thermality, causality, and the quantum-controlled Unruh–deWitt detector
• Unruh effect under non-equilibrium conditions: oscillatory motion of an Unruh-DeWitt detector
• Relativistic quantum information in detectors–field interactions
• Direct measurement of the two-point function in quantum fields
• Wavepacket detection with the Unruh-DeWitt model
• Absolutely covert quantum communication