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Detecting Acceleration-Enhanced Vacuum Fluctuations with Atoms Inside a Cavity
Kinjalk Lochan1, Hendrik Ulbricht2, Andrea Vinante2,3
1Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, Sector 81 SAS Nagar, Manauli PO 140306, Punjab, India.
Abstract:
Some of the most prominent theoretical predictions of modern times, e.g., the Unruh effect, Hawking radiation, and gravity-assisted particle creation, are supported by from the fact that various quantum constructs like particle content and vacuum fluctuations of a quantum field are observer-dependent. Despite being fundamental in nature, these predictions have not yet been experimentally verified because one needs extremely strong gravity (or acceleration) to bring them within the existing experimental resolution. In this Letter, we demonstrate that a post-Newtonian rotating atom inside a far-detuned cavity experiences strongly modified quantum fluctuations in the inertial vacuum. As a result, the emission rate of an excited atom gets enhanced significantly along with a shift in the emission spectrum due to the change in the quantum correlation under rotation. We propose an optomechanical setup that is capable of realizing such acceleration-induced particle creation with current technology. This provides a novel and potentially feasible experimental proposal for the direct detection of noninertial quantum field theoretic effects.
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