Detecting circular Unruh effect with quantum entanglement

Abstract

We show that the asymptotic state of a quantum system composed of two atoms in circular motion in vacuum can be entangled when the angular velocity and the radius of the orbit are appropriate. The asymptotic entanglement as a result of centripetal acceleration is initial-state independent and can be viewed as a manifestation of the circular version of the Unruh effect. Based on this phenomenon, we propose an optomechanical setup to detect the circular Unruh effect with the state-of-the-art technologies.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure