We investigate the interaction between a moving detector and a quantum field, especially about how the trajectory of the detector would affect the vacuum fluctuations when the detector moves in a quantum field (the Unruh effect). We focus on two moving detectors system for future application in quantum teleportation. We find that the trajectory of a uniformly accelerated detector in Rindler space cannot be extended to a trajectory in which a detector moves at constant velocity. Based on our previous work, we redo the calculations and find that a term is missing from past calculations, and we also find that there are some restrictions on the values for the parameters in the solutions. In addition, without inclusion of the missing term, the variance from the quantum field for the inertial detector will be zero and is unlikely in such a system. When all these points are combined, there is a difference in the two-point correlation function between the inertial detector and the accelerated detector in the early-time region. The influence of proper acceleration can be seen in the two-point correlation functions. This might play a role in the quantum teleportation process and be worth studying thoroughly.
We investigate the interaction between a moving detector and a quantum field, especially about how the trajectory of the detector would affect the vacuum fluctuations when the detector moves in a quantum field (the Unruh effect). We focus on two moving detectors system for future application in quantum teleportation. We find that the trajectory of a uniformly accelerated detector in Rindler space cannot be extended to a trajectory in which a detector moves at constant velocity. Based on our previous work, we redo the calculations and find that a term is missing from past calculations, and we also find that there are some restrictions on the values for the parameters in the solutions. In addition, without inclusion of the missing term, the variance from the quantum field for the inertial detector will be zero and is unlikely in such a system. When all these points are combined, there is a difference in the two-point correlation function between the inertial detector and the accelerated detector in the early-time region. The influence of proper acceleration can be seen in the two-point correlation functions. This might play a role in the quantum teleportation process and be worth studying thoroughly.
It is commonly believed that the fidelity of quantum teleportation using localized quantum objects with one party or both accelerated in vacuum would be degraded due to the heat up by the Unruh effect. In this paper, we point out that the Unruh effect is not the whole story in accounting for all the relativistic effects in quantum teleportation. First, there could be degradation of fidelity by a common field environment even when both quantum objects are in inertial motion. Second, relativistic effects entering the description of the dynamics, such as frame dependence, time dilation, and Doppler shift, already existent in inertial motion, can compete with or even overwhelm the effect due to uniform acceleration in a quantum field. We show it is not true that larger acceleration of an object would necessarily lead to a faster degradation of fidelity. These claims are based on four cases of quantum teleportation we studied using two Unruh--DeWitt detectors coupled via a common quantum field initially in the Minkowski vacuum. We find the quantum entanglement evaluated around the light cone, rather than the conventional ones evaluated on the Minkowski time slices, is the necessary condition for the averaged fidelity of quantum teleportation beating the classical one. These results are useful as a guide to making judicious choices of states and parameter ranges and estimation of the efficiency of quantum teleportation in relativistic quantum systems under environmental influences.
While the Unruh effect has traditionally been studied under the assumption of uniform acceleration, a simplification motivated by experimental considerations, it is not necessarily true for all non-inertial motions. We propose a novel approach for the indirect detection of the Unruh effect without relying on the former restriction. Previous studies have shown that probing the decoherence of an Unruh-DeWitt detector can significantly reduce the acceleration required for observing the effect by several orders of magnitude compared to earlier proposals. Building on this idea, we develop a theoretical framework describing a non-inertial observer equipped with a detector undergoing non-uniform, time-dependent acceleration. We show that, in a non-uniformly accelerated Rindler spacetime, the particle distribution perceived in the Minkowski vacuum acquires a time-dependent modification of the standard Unruh spectrum. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the inclusion of quantum entanglement leads to a deformation of the Minkowski vacuum into squeezed states.
We consider a continuous-variable quantum teleportation protocol between a uniformly accelerated sender in the right Rindler wedge, a conformal receiver restricted to the future light cone, and an inertial observer in the Minkowski vacuum. Using a nonperturbative quantum circuit model, the accelerated observer interacts unitarily with the Rindler modes of the field, thereby accessing entanglement of the vacuum as a resource. We find that a Rindler-displaced Minkowski vacuum state prepared and teleported by the accelerated observer appears mixed according to the inertial observer, despite a reduction of the quadrature variances below classical limits. This is a surprising result, since the same state transmitted directly from the accelerated observer appears as a pure coherent state to the inertial observer. The decoherence of the state is caused by an interplay of opposing effects as the acceleration increases: the reduction of vacuum noise in the output state for a stronger entanglement resource, constrained by the amplification of thermal noise due to the presence of Unruh radiation.
A bstract In this work, we investigate the velocity effects on information degradation due to the Unruh effect in accelerated quantum systems (with finite interaction time). We consider a detector moving along a spatial trajectory within a two-dimensional plane, this trajectory is composed of uniform acceleration along one direction, combined with a constant four-velocity component in the plane orthogonal to the acceleration. The quantum systems studied were: accelerated single-qubit, quantum interferometric circuit, and which-path distinguishability circuit. Thus, for non-relativistic velocity regime, we obtained analytical expressions such as transition rates, quantum coherence, visibility, distinguishability, and the complementarity relation. On the other hand, for the ultra-relativistic velocity regime, we saw that the Unruh effect is suppressed and therefore the detector does not respond in this case. Our findings revealed that velocity effects imply mitigation of information degradation, this interesting behaviors happen because of the composite effect of both velocity and acceleration. The results obtained show that the addition of the non-relativistic, transverse and constant motion of an accelerated detector can play a protective role in quantumness in systems at high accelerations, although the effects are very small.
Abstract The Unruh effect predicts an astonishing phenomenon that an accelerated detector would detect counts despite being in a quantum field vacuum in the rest frame. Since the required detector acceleration for its direct observation is prohibitively large, recent analog studies in quantum simulation platforms help in revealing various properties of the Unruh effect and thus to explore the not-yet-understood physics of quantum gravity. To further reveal the quantum aspect of the Unruh effect, analogous experimental exploration of the correlation with respect to the detector and the field, and the consequences for coherent quantum trajectories of the detector that without classical counterparts, are essential steps but currently missing. Here, we utilize a laser-controlled trapped ion to experimentally simulate an oscillating detector coupled with a cavity field. We observe joint excitation of both the detector and the field in the detector’s frame, matching with the coordinated dynamics predicted by the Unruh effect. Particularly, we simulate the detector moving in single and superposed quantum trajectories, where the latter case shows coherent interference of excitation. Our demonstration reveals properties of quantum coherent superposition of accelerating trajectories associated with quantum gravity theories that have no classical counterparts, and may offer a new avenue to investigate phenomena in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. We also show how a generalization of the method and results in this work may be beneficial for direct observation of the Unruh effect.
Vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields provide an unavoidable environment for any quantum system coupled to it. We study the interplay between boundary conditions and acceleration in determining decoherence of a two-level Unruh-DeWitt detector coupled to a scalar field in a cylindrical cavity. We show that the decoherence rate closely follows the emission profile, and exhibits {\it Purcell-like} enhancement for both inertial and uniformly accelerated detectors. The acceleration induces an effective smearing of the resonant density of states, diluting the resonance enhancement for large accelerations while replacing the inertial off-resonant decay with an oscillatory behavior for small accelerations. For moderate accelerations, this interplay between cavity-induced and acceleration-assisted effects results in an extended region of cavity parameters where decoherence is strongly suppressed, particularly in regimes where the inertial detector otherwise experience strong decoherence. Thus, contrary to naive expectations, the Unruh thermality in a suitably engineered cavity can enhance rather than degrade quantum coherence, providing a very uncharacteristic feature of quantum fields in non-inertial frames.