Third sound detectors in accelerated motion

Bunney, Cameron R.D.; Barroso, Vitor S.; Biermann, Steffen; Geelmuyden, August; Gooding, Cisco; Ithier, Grégoire; Rojas, Xavier; Louko, Jorma; Weinfurtner, Silke

Abstract

An accelerated observer moving through empty space sees particles appearing and disappearing, while an observer with a constant velocity does not register any particles. This phenomenon, generally known as the Unruh effect, relies on an initial vacuum state, thereby unifying the experience of all inertial observers. We propose an experiment to probe this observer-dependent detector response, using a laser beam in circular motion as a local detector of superfluid helium-4 surface modes or third sound waves. To assess experimental feasibility, we develop a theoretical framework to include a non-zero temperature initial state. We find that an acceleration-dependent signal persists, independent of the initial temperature. By introducing a signal-to-noise measure we show that observing this signal is within experimental reach.

Citation

Bunney, C. R., Barroso, V. S., Biermann, S., Geelmuyden, A., Gooding, C., Ithier, G., Rojas, X., Louko, J., & Weinfurtner, S. (2024). Third sound detectors in accelerated motion. New Journal of Physics, 26(6), Article 065001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ad5758

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 12, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jun 20, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 20, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 31, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 31, 2025
• Journal: New Journal of Physics
• Electronic ISSN: 1367-2630
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: 065001
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ad5758
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/36016227
• Publisher URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/ad5758