Asymptotically thermal responses for smoothly switched detectors

Chris Fewster; Benito A Juárez-Aubry; Jorma Louko

Asymptotically thermal responses for smoothly switched detectors

Chris Fewster, Benito A Juárez-Aubry, Jorma Louko

Mathematics

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Thermal phenomena in quantum field theory can be detected with the aid of particle detectors coupled to quantum fields along stationary worldlines, by testing whether the response of such a detector satisfies the detailed balance version of the KMS condition at a constant temperature. This relation holds when the interaction between the field and the detector has infinite time duration. Operationally, however, detectors interact with fields for a finite amount of time, controlled by a switching function of compact support, and the KMS detailed balance condition cannot hold exactly for finite time interactions at arbitrarily large detector energy gap. In this large energy gap regime, we show that, for an adiabatically switched Rindler detector, the Unruh temperature emerges asymptotically after the detector and the field have interacted for a time that is polynomially long in the large energy. We comment on the significance of the adiabaticity assumption in this result.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Fourteenth Marcel Grossman Meeting on General Relativity
Editors	M Bianchi, R T Jantzen, R Ruffini
Publisher	Arxiv (Cornell University)
Number of pages	6
Publication status	Published - 2015

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http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.00701

Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting - MG14
Fewster, C. (Invited speaker)
12 Jul 2015 → 17 Jul 2015
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference participation

Cite this

@inproceedings{f3213d61c51d4e229490d65ee11d20ef,

title = "Asymptotically thermal responses for smoothly switched detectors",

abstract = "Thermal phenomena in quantum field theory can be detected with the aid of particle detectors coupled to quantum fields along stationary worldlines, by testing whether the response of such a detector satisfies the detailed balance version of the KMS condition at a constant temperature. This relation holds when the interaction between the field and the detector has infinite time duration. Operationally, however, detectors interact with fields for a finite amount of time, controlled by a switching function of compact support, and the KMS detailed balance condition cannot hold exactly for finite time interactions at arbitrarily large detector energy gap. In this large energy gap regime, we show that, for an adiabatically switched Rindler detector, the Unruh temperature emerges asymptotically after the detector and the field have interacted for a time that is polynomially long in the large energy. We comment on the significance of the adiabaticity assumption in this result.",

author = "Chris Fewster and Ju{\'a}rez-Aubry, {Benito A} and Jorma Louko",

year = "2015",

language = "English",

editor = "M Bianchi and Jantzen, {R T} and R Ruffini",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the Fourteenth Marcel Grossman Meeting on General Relativity",

publisher = "Arxiv (Cornell University)",

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T1 - Asymptotically thermal responses for smoothly switched detectors

AU - Fewster, Chris

AU - Juárez-Aubry, Benito A

AU - Louko, Jorma

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Thermal phenomena in quantum field theory can be detected with the aid of particle detectors coupled to quantum fields along stationary worldlines, by testing whether the response of such a detector satisfies the detailed balance version of the KMS condition at a constant temperature. This relation holds when the interaction between the field and the detector has infinite time duration. Operationally, however, detectors interact with fields for a finite amount of time, controlled by a switching function of compact support, and the KMS detailed balance condition cannot hold exactly for finite time interactions at arbitrarily large detector energy gap. In this large energy gap regime, we show that, for an adiabatically switched Rindler detector, the Unruh temperature emerges asymptotically after the detector and the field have interacted for a time that is polynomially long in the large energy. We comment on the significance of the adiabaticity assumption in this result.

AB - Thermal phenomena in quantum field theory can be detected with the aid of particle detectors coupled to quantum fields along stationary worldlines, by testing whether the response of such a detector satisfies the detailed balance version of the KMS condition at a constant temperature. This relation holds when the interaction between the field and the detector has infinite time duration. Operationally, however, detectors interact with fields for a finite amount of time, controlled by a switching function of compact support, and the KMS detailed balance condition cannot hold exactly for finite time interactions at arbitrarily large detector energy gap. In this large energy gap regime, we show that, for an adiabatically switched Rindler detector, the Unruh temperature emerges asymptotically after the detector and the field have interacted for a time that is polynomially long in the large energy. We comment on the significance of the adiabaticity assumption in this result.

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - Proceedings of the Fourteenth Marcel Grossman Meeting on General Relativity

A2 - Bianchi, M

A2 - Jantzen, R T

A2 - Ruffini, R

PB - Arxiv (Cornell University)

ER -

Asymptotically thermal responses for smoothly switched detectors

Abstract

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Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting - MG14

Cite this