2010/07/31 by Andrzej Dragan, Ivette Fuentes, Jorma Louko · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #gr-qc #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.83.085020
published as Phys.Rev.D83:085020,2011 · I.F. previously published as Fuentes-Guridi and Fuentes-Schuller
openalex publication_date 2011/04/15 · arxiv created 2011/05/05 · arxiv updated 2011/05/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
A single quantum system, such as the Unruh-DeWitt detector, can be used to determine absolute acceleration by local measurements on a quantum field. To show this, we consider two kinematically indistinguishable scenarios: an inertial observer, Bob, measuring the field of a uniformly accelerated cavity, and his noninertial twin, Rob, accelerating and making measurements in a stationary cavity. We find that these scenarios can be distinguished in the nonrelativistic regime only by measurements on highly excited massive fields, allowing one to detect the noninertialness of the reference frame.