2019/05/06 by Nicholas Funai, Eduardo Martín-Martínez, Eduardo Martin-Martinez · 24 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Born approximation #Causality (physics) #Classical mechanics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Computer science #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Rotating wave approximation #Scattering #Telecommunications #Theoretical physics #Theory of relativity #Transmission (telecommunications) #gr-qc #hep-th #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.100.065021
published in Physical review. D/Physical review. D. 100(6) (American Physical Society) · 23 pages (13 pages + 10 pages of Appendices). RevTeX 4.1
arxiv created 2019/05/06 · openalex created_date 2019/06/14 · openalex publication_date 2019/09/25 · arxiv updated 2019/10/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present new results on the causality violations introduced by the rotating wave approximation commonly used in quantum optics and high-energy physics. We find that the causality violations and faster-than-light signaling induced by the approximation have ``fat tails,'' i.e., they are polynomially decaying with the distance from the light-cone of the emitter. Furthermore, we also show that the fundamental problems with the incompatibility between the approximation and relativity are not cured even in the long interaction time regime (where the approximation is often taken). This renders the approximation unsuitable for any regime where we are concerned about relativistic causality and information transmission via the electromagnetic field.