dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaQuantum electrodynamics of accelerated atoms in free space and in confined cavities
| Authors | Alexey Belyanin, Federico Capasso, Edward Fry, Stephen Fulling, Vitaly Kocharovsky, M. Suhail Zubairy, Marlan O. Scully |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0412134 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0412134 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.023807 |
Abstract
We consider a gedanken experiment with a beam of atoms in their ground state that are accelerated through a single-mode microwave cavity. We show that taking into account of the ''counter-rotating'' terms in the interaction Hamiltonian leads to the excitation of an atom with simultaneous emission of a photon into a field mode. In the case of a slow switching on of the interaction, the ratio of emission and absorption probabilities is exponentially small and is described by the Unruh factor. In the opposite case of sharp cavity boundaries the above ratio is much greater and radiation is produced with an intensity which can exceed the intensity of Unruh acceleration radiation in free space by many orders of magnitude. In both cases real photons are produced, contrary to the opinion that a uniformly accelerated atom does not radiate. The cavity field at steady state is described by a thermal density matrix. However, under some conditions laser gain is possible. We present a detailed discussion of how the acceleration of atoms affects the generated cavity field in different situations, progressing from a simple physical picture of Unruh radiation to more complicated situations.
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"abstract": "We consider a gedanken experiment with a beam of atoms in their ground state\nthat are accelerated through a single-mode microwave cavity. We show that\ntaking into account of the \u0027\u0027counter-rotating\u0027\u0027 terms in the interaction\nHamiltonian leads to the excitation of an atom with simultaneous emission of a\nphoton into a field mode. In the case of a slow switching on of the\ninteraction, the ratio of emission and absorption probabilities is\nexponentially small and is described by the Unruh factor. In the opposite case\nof sharp cavity boundaries the above ratio is much greater and radiation is\nproduced with an intensity which can exceed the intensity of Unruh acceleration\nradiation in free space by many orders of magnitude. In both cases real photons\nare produced, contrary to the opinion that a uniformly accelerated atom does\nnot radiate. The cavity field at steady state is described by a thermal density\nmatrix. However, under some conditions laser gain is possible. We present a\ndetailed discussion of how the acceleration of atoms affects the generated\ncavity field in different situations, progressing from a simple physical\npicture of Unruh radiation to more complicated situations.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0412134",
"authors": [
"Alexey Belyanin",
"Federico Capasso",
"Edward Fry",
"Stephen Fulling",
"Vitaly Kocharovsky",
"M. Suhail Zubairy",
"Marlan O. Scully"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.74.023807",
"title": "Quantum electrodynamics of accelerated atoms in free space and in confined cavities",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0412134"
},
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