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arXiv:2608.27478

Quantum speed limit time of a uniformly accelerated Unruh-DeWitt detector

Debasish Ghosh, Bibhas Ranjan Majhi

gr-qchep-thquant-phSubmitted Aug 21, 2026• Announced Aug 24, 2026
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Within the open quantum system formalism, using the Markovian process, we investigate the {\it quantum speed limit time} (QSLT) of a uniformly accelerated Unruh-DeWitt detector, interacting with the massless real scaler field. Three specific scenarios are being studied -- the field is in Minkowski spacetime (i) without any reflecting boundary but at a finite temperature, (ii) presence of single boundary with the detector is accelerating parallel to the plane of it, and (iii) presence of two boundaries with the detector is moving between them along the parallel direction. Interestingly, the behavior of QSLT appears to be very distinctive around a particular value of $a$. For the first scenario QSLT shows very noticeable change around a specific $a$ and the required value of $a$ corresponding to this change decreases with the increase of field temperature. In the other two scenarios, QSLT starts to fluctuate after a critical value of $a$. If we further increase $a$, more vigorous fluctuation emerges. The value of $a$ required for the starting of the oscillation is much less for the double boundary case compared to the single boundary. Taking into account specific values of the distance between the boundaries and the detector's frequency, we estimate that the critical value of $a$ can be as low as $\sim 10^5 \text{m}/\text{s}^2$ for the double boundary situation. We argue that such a distinctive feature in QSLT can be a fruitful tool to diagnose the Unruh effect.

Comments
Latex, 19 pages, 14 figures

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Within the open quantum system formalism, using the Markovian process, we investigate the {\it quantum speed limit time} (QSLT) of a uniformly accelerated Unruh-DeWitt detector, interacting with the massless real scaler field. Three specific scenarios are being studied -- the field is in Minkowski spacetime (i) without any reflecting boundary but at a finite temperature, (ii) presence of single boundary with the detector is accelerating parallel to the plane of it, and (iii) presence of two boundaries with the detector is moving between them along the parallel direction. Interestingly, the behavior of QSLT appears to be very distinctive around a particular value of aaa. For the first scenario QSLT shows very noticeable change around a specific aaa and the required value of aaa corresponding to this change decreases with the increase of field temperature. In the other two scenarios, QSLT starts to fluctuate after a critical value of aaa. If we further increase aaa, more vigorous fluctuation emerges. The value of aaa required for the starting of the oscillation is much less for the double boundary case compared to the single boundary. Taking into account specific values of the distance between the boundaries and the detector's frequency, we estimate that the critical value of aaa can be as low as ∼105m/s2\sim 10^5 \text{m}/\text{s}^2∼105m/s2 for the double boundary situation. We argue that such a distinctive feature in QSLT can be a fruitful tool to diagnose the Unruh effect.
Abstract We study, in the framework of open quantum systems, the entanglement dynamics for a quantum system composed of two uniformly accelerated Unruh-Dewitt detectors interacting with a bath of massive scalar fields in the Minkowski vacuum. We find that the entanglement evolution for the quantum system coupled with massive fields is always slower compared with that of the one coupled with massless fields, and this time-delay effect brought about by the field being massive can however be counteracted by a large enough acceleration, in contrast to the case of a static quantum system in a thermal bath, where this time delay is not affected by the temperature. Remarkably, the maximal concurrence of the quantum system generated during evolution may increase with acceleration for any inter-detector separation while that for static ones in a thermal bath decreases monotonically with temperature, and this can be considered as an anti-Unruh effect in terms of the entanglement generated.
Abstract This investigation focuses on studying the dynamics of entropy disorder and quantum correlations between two detectors interacting with a scalar field in a four-dimensional Minkowski space-time using the Unruh-deWitt model. The aim is to gain insights into the evolution of quantum resources in uniformly accelerated detectors that interact with a massless scalar field. To achieve this, useful metrics such as local quantum Fisher information (LQFI), quantum consonance, and linear entropy are employed to analyze the quantum correlations and entropy disorder. The results indicate that the quantum correlations are heavily reliant on the choice of the initial state of the detectors. Interestingly, the quantum correlations exhibit a surprising resurgence as the Unruh temperature increases for specific initial state parameters. However, for other values, the Unruh temperature takes over and leads to a monotonic decrease in the quantum correlations. In addition, the degree of disorder is observed to increase as the Unruh temperature increases. Furthermore, the investigation delves into how the energy spacing of the detector affects quantum correlations across various initial state parameters. Further elucidating the behavior of quantum resources in curved space-time, we demonstrate that some initial state parameters can cause sudden changes in correlation measures as a function of energy spacing. These results highlight the relevance of choosing adequate initial state parameters, as they have a significant impact on the variation of quantum resources in two Unruh-deWitt detectors.
We study the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of acceleration, in the open quantum systems, for a two-level atom with the circular motion coupled to a massless scalar field in the Minkowski vacuum without and with a reflecting boundary in the ultra-relativistic limit. As we amplify a, the saturation time decreases for θ≠π, but first increases and then decreases for θ=π. Without a boundary, there exists a peak value of QFI with a certain time. The QFI varies with the initial state parameter θ, and firstly takes peak value in the ground state of the atom. The variation of QFI with respect to θ gradually fades away with the evolution of time. With a boundary, the detection range of acceleration has been expanded. The QFI firstly takes the maximum in the excited state of the atom. In addition, we study the QFI of temperature for a static atom immersed in a thermal bath without and with a boundary. The relation between the saturation time and T is similar to a. Without a boundary, the QFI of temperature is similar to that of acceleration. With a boundary, the QFI firstly takes peak value in the ground state of the atom, which is different from the behavior of acceleration. The results provide references for the detection of Unruh-like effect.
The goal of quantum metrology is the exploitation of quantum resources, like entanglement or quantum coherence, in the fundamental task of parameter estimation. Here we consider the question of the estimation of the Unruh temperature in the scenario of relativistic quantum metrology. Specifically, we study two distinct cases. First, a single Unruh-DeWitt detector interacting with a scalar quantum field undergoes an uniform acceleration for a finite amount of proper time, and the role of coherence in the estimation process is analyzed. After this, we consider two initially entangled detectors, one of which is inertial while the other one undergoes acceleration. Our results show that the maximum of the Fisher information, thus characterizing the maximum possible precision according to Crammér-Rao bound, occurs only for small accelerations, while it decreases fast when acceleration increases. Moreover, the role of initial coherence ---in the single detector case---, or entanglement ---in the two detectors case---, is to decrease Fisher information. Therefore, under the considered protocol, internal coherence (or entanglement) is not a resource for estimating Unruh temperature. These unexpected results show that a detection of the Unruh effect can be even more challenge than previously thought. Finally, by considering the connection between Unruh effect and Hawking radiation, we discuss how our results can be understood in the context of the estimation of Hawking temperature.
Uniform acceleration induces a thermal response to the Minkowski vacuum and can thereby modify quantum correlations. For measurement-induced nonlocality (MIN), a form of nonclassical correlation distinct from entanglement, previous field-mode analyses of bosonic fields found that it decreases with increasing acceleration and vanishes in the infinite-acceleration limit. This raises the question of whether the disappearance of MIN is a generic consequence of the Unruh effect or depends on the physical description of the accelerated quantum system. To address this question, we study two uniformly accelerating Unruh-DeWitt detectors interacting with a massless scalar field. We find that the response of MIN to the Unruh temperature depends sensitively on the initial detector state: it can decrease monotonically, vanish at an intermediate temperature and subsequently recover, or increase monotonically. Moreover, for a broad class of initial states, MIN approaches a nonzero value in the high-temperature limit. These results show that the suppression of MIN under strong acceleration is not universal. Instead, Unruh-induced detector dynamics gives rise to a state-dependent response in which measurement-induced nonlocality can be suppressed, restored, or enhanced.
In an open quantum system, we study the evolution of a two-level atom as a detector which interacts with given environments. For a uniformly accelerated two-level atom coupled to a massless scalar field in the Minkowski vacuum, when it evolves for a certain time, we find that there exists a peak value for the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of acceleration, which indicates that the optimal precision of estimation is achieved when choosing an appropriate acceleration aaa. QFI has different behaviors for different initial state parameters $\ensuremath{\theta}$ of the atom, displaying periodicity. However, the periodicity fades away with the evolution of time, which means that the initial state cannot affect the later stable quantum state. Furthermore, adding a boundary, we observe that the peak value of QFI increases when the atom is close to the boundary, which shows that QFI is protected by the boundary. Here, QFI fluctuates, and there may exist two peak values with a certain moment, which expands the detection range of the acceleration. Therefore, we can enhance the estimation precision of acceleration by choosing an appropriate position and acceleration aaa. The periodicity of QFI with respect to the initial state parameter $\ensuremath{\theta}$ lasts a longer time than the previous unbounded case, which indicates that the initial state is protected by the boundary. Finally, for a thermal bath with a boundary, QFI of temperature has no more than one peak value with a certain moment, which is different from QFI of acceleration with a boundary. The periodicity also lasts a longer time than unbounded case, which shows the initial quantum state of the atom is protected by the boundary for two cases.