Particle detectors and the zero mode of a quantum field

Abstract

We study the impact of the zero mode of a quantum field on the evolution of a particle detector. For a massless scalar field in a periodic cavity, we show that the impact of the zero mode on the Unruh-DeWitt detector and its derivative-coupling generalization is necessarily nonvanishing but can be made negligible in some limits, including those commonly occurring in nonrelativistic quantum optics. For the derivative-coupling detector this can be accomplished by just tuning the zero mode's initial state, but the standard Unruh-DeWitt detector requires a more subtle and careful tuning. Applications include an inertial detector with arbitrary velocity, where we demonstrate the regularity of the ultrarelativistic limit, and a detector with uniform acceleration. © 2014 American Physical Society.

Citation

Martín-Martínez, E., & Louko, J. (2014). Particle detectors and the zero mode of a quantum field. Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, 90(2), Article 024015. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.90.024015

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 22, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jul 3, 2014
• Publication Date: Jul 3, 2014
• Deposit Date: Oct 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2018
• Journal: Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
• Print ISSN: 1550-7998
• Electronic ISSN: 1550-2368
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 90
• Issue: 2
• Article Number: 024015
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.90.024015
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1174876
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.90.024015