1,348 research outputs found
Classical aspects of Hawking radiation verified in analogue gravity experiment
There is an analogy between the propagation of fields on a curved spacetime
and shallow water waves in an open channel flow. By placing a streamlined
obstacle into an open channel flow we create a region of high velocity over the
obstacle that can include wave horizons. Long (shallow water) waves propagating
upstream towards this region are blocked and converted into short (deep water)
waves. This is the analogue of the stimulated Hawking emission by a white hole
(the time inverse of a black hole). The measurements of amplitudes of the
converted waves demonstrate that they appear in pairs and are classically
correlated; the spectra of the conversion process is described by a
Boltzmann-distribution; and the Boltzmann-distribution is determined by the
determined by the change in flow across the white hole horizon.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; draft of a chapter submitted to the proceedings
of the IX'th SIGRAV graduate school: Analogue Gravity, Lake Como, Italy, May
201
On the robustness of acoustic black hole spectra
We study the robustness of the spectrum emitted by an acoustic black hole by
considering series of stationary flows that become either subsonic or
supersonic, i.e. when the horizon disappears. We work with the superluminal
Bogoliubov dispersion of Bose--Einstein condensates. We find that the spectrum
remains remarkably Planckian until the horizon disappears. When the flow is
everywhere supersonic, new pair creation channels open. This will be the
subject of a forthcoming work.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure, jpconf.cls; to appear in the proceedings of the
Spanish Relativity Meeting ERE201
Rotational quantum friction in superfluids: Radiation from object rotating in superfluid vacuum
We discuss the friction experienced by the body rotating in superfluid liquid
at T=0. The effect is analogous to the amplification of electromagnetic
radiation and spontaneous emission by the body or black hole rotating in
quantum vacuum, first discussed by Zel'dovich and Starobinsky. The friction is
caused by the interaction of the part of the liquid, which is rigidly connected
with the rotating body and thus represents the comoving detector, with the
"Minkowski" vacuum outside the body. The emission process is the quantum
tunneling of quasiparticles from the detector to the ergoregion, where the
energy of quasiparticles is negative in the rotating frame. This quantum
rotational friction caused by the emission of quasiparticles is estimated for
phonons and rotons in superfluid 4He and for Bogoliubov fermions in superfluid
3He.Comment: RevTex file, 4 pages, 1 figur
Hawking radiation from "phase horizons" in laser filaments?
Belgiorno et al have reported on experiments aiming at the detection of (the
analogue of) Hawking radiation using laser filaments [F. Belgiorno et al, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 105, 203901 (2010)]. They sent intense focused Bessel pulses into a
non-linear dielectric medium in order to change its refractive index via the
Kerr effect and saw creation of photons orthogonal to the direction of travel
of the pluses. Since the refractive index change in the pulse generated a
"phase horizon" (where the phase velocity of these photons equals the pulse
speed), they concluded that they observed the analogue of Hawking radiation. We
study this scenario in a model with a phase horizon and a phase velocity very
similar to that of their experiment and find that the effective metric does not
quite correspond to a black hole. The photons created in this model are not due
to the analogue of black hole evaporation but have more similarities to
cosmological particle creation. Nevertheless, even this effect cannot explain
the observations -- unless the pulse has significant small scale structure in
both the longitudinal and transverse dimensions.Comment: 13 pages RevTeX, 2 figure
Influence Functionals and the Accelerating Detector
The influence functional is derived for a massive scalar field in the ground
state, coupled to a uniformly accelerating DeWitt monopole detector in
dimensional Minkowski space. This confirms the local nature of the Unruh
effect, and provides an exact solution to the problem of the accelerating
detector without invoking a non-standard quantization. A directional detector
is presented which is efficiently decohered by the scalar field vacuum, and
which illustrates an important difference between the quantum mechanics of
inertial and non-inertial frames. From the results of these calculations, some
comments are made regarding the possibility of establishing a quantum
equivalence principle, so that the Hawking effect might be derived from the
Unruh effect.Comment: 32 page
Black Hole Thermodynamics and Lorentz Symmetry
Recent developments point to a breakdown in the generalized second law of
thermodynamics for theories with Lorentz symmetry violation. It appears
possible to construct a perpetual motion machine of the second kind in such
theories, using a black hole to catalyze the conversion of heat to work. Here
we describe and extend the arguments leading to that conclusion. We suggest the
inference that local Lorentz symmetry may be an emergent property of the
macroscopic world with origins in a microscopic second law of causal horizon
thermodynamics.Comment: 4 pages; v2: Version to appear in Foundations of Physics. Potential
counterexamples addressed, argument given applying to LV theories where all
speeds (or horizons) coincide, and editing for clarit
On the interpretation of time-reparametrization-invariant quantum mechanics
The classical and quantum dynamics of simple time-reparametrization-
invariant models containing two degrees of freedom are studied in detail.
Elimination of one ``clock'' variable through the Hamiltonian constraint leads
to a description of time evolution for the remaining variable which is
essentially equivalent to the standard quantum mechanics of an unconstrained
system. In contrast to a similar proposal of Rovelli, evolution is with respect
to the geometrical proper time, and the Heisenberg equation of motion is exact.
The possibility of a ``test clock'', which would reveal time evolution while
contributing negligibly to the Hamiltonian constraint is examined, and found to
be viable in the semiclassical limit of large quantum numbers.Comment: 13 pages, set in REVTeX. One figure available by FAX from
[email protected]
On Unitary Evolution of a Massless Scalar Field In A Schwarzschild Background: Hawking Radiation and the Information Paradox
We develop a Hamiltonian formalism which can be used to discuss the physics
of a massless scalar field in a gravitational background of a Schwarzschild
black hole. Using this formalism we show that the time evolution of the system
is unitary and yet all known results such as the existence of Hawking radiation
can be readily understood. We then point out that the Hamiltonian formalism
leads to interesting observations about black hole entropy and the information
paradox.Comment: 45 pages, revte
The Fulling-Davies-Unruh Effect is Mandatory: The Proton's Testimony
We discuss the decay of accelerated protons and illustrate how the
Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect is indeed mandatory to maintain the consistency of
standard Quantum Field Theory. The confidence level of the Fulling-Davies-Unruh
effect must be the same as that of Quantum Field Theory itself.Comment: Awarded "honorable mention" by Gravity Research Foundation in the
2002 Essay competitio
Compact Source of EPR Entanglement and Squeezing at Very Low Noise Frequencies
We report on the experimental demonstration of strong quadrature EPR
entanglement and squeezing at very low noise sideband frequencies produced by a
single type-II, self-phase-locked, frequency degenerate optical parametric
oscillator below threshold. The generated two-mode squeezed vacuum state is
preserved for noise frequencies as low as 50 kHz. Designing simple setups able
to generate non-classical states of light in the kHz regime is a key challenge
for high sensitivity detection of ultra-weak physical effects such as
gravitational wave or small beam displacement
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