A Coaccelerated Observer

We analyze the situation of an observer coaccelerated relative to a linearly accelerated charge, in order to find whether he can observe the radiation emitted from the accelerated charge. It is found that the seemingly special situation of the coaccelerated observer relative to any other observer, is deduced from a wrong use of the retarded coordinate system, when such a system is inadmissible. It is also found that the coaccelerated observer has no special position other than any other observer, and hence, he can observe any physical events as any other observer.     

Majorana,Pauling and the quantum theory of the chemical bond

Nonlocal electrodynamics is a formalism developed to include nonlocal effects in the measurement process in order to account for the impossibility of instantaneous measurement of physical fields. This theory modifies Maxwell's electrodynamics by eliminating the hypothesis of locality that assumes an accelerated observer simultaneously equivalent to a comoving inertial frame of reference. In this scenario, the transformation between an inertial and accelerated observer is generalized which affects the properties of physical fields. In particular, we analyze how an uniformly accelerated observer perceives a homogeneous and isotropic black body radiation. We show that all nonlocal effects are transient and most relevant in the first period of acceleration.     

THE ROLE OF ACCELERATION AND LOCALITY IN THE TWIN PARADOX

We study the role of acceleration in the twin paradox. From the coordinate transformation that relates an accelerated and an inertial observer we find that, from the point of view of the accelerated observer, the rate of the differential lapses of time depends not only on the relative velocity, but also on the product of the acceleration and the distance between the observers. However, this result does not have a direct operational interpretation because an observer at a certain position can measure only physical quantities that are defined at the same position. For local measurements, the asymmetry between the two observers can be attributed to the fact that noninertial coordinate systems, contrary to inertial coordinate systems, can be correctly interpreted only locally.     

Equivalence Principle and Radiation by a Uniformly Accelerated Charge

We address the old question of whether or not a uniformly accelerated charged particle radiates, and consequently, if weak equivalence principle is violated by electrodynamics. We show that radiation has different meanings; some absolute, some relative. Detecting photons or electromagnetic waves is not absolute, it depends both on the electromagnetic field and on the state of motion of the antenna. An antenna used by a Rindler observer does not detect any radiation from a uniformly accelerated co-moving charged particle. Therefore, a Rindler observer cannot decide whether or not he is in an accelerated lab or in a gravitational field. We also discuss the general case.     

Radiation from a uniformly accelerated charge

The electromagnetic field associated with a uniformly accelerated charge is studied in some detail. The equivalence principle paradox that the co-accelerating observer measures no radiation while a freely falling observer measures the standard radiation of an accelerated charge is resolved by noting that all the radiation goes into the region of space time in-accessible to the co-accelerating observer.     

Alice falls into a black hole: entanglement in noninertial frames

Two observers determine the entanglement between two free bosonic modes by each detecting one of the modes and observing the correlations between their measurements. We show that a state which is maximally entangled in an inertial frame becomes less entangled if the observers are relatively accelerated. This phenomenon, which is a consequence of the Unruh effect, shows that entanglement is an observer-dependent quantity in noninertial frames. In the high acceleration limit, our results can be applied to a nonaccelerated observer falling into a black hole while the accelerated one barely escapes. If the observer escapes with infinite acceleration, the state's distillable entanglement vanishes.     

Tripartite entanglement of fermionic system in accelerated frames

The dynamics of tripartite entanglement of fermionic system in noninertial frames through linear contraction criterion when one or two observers are accelerated is investigated. In one observer accelerated case the entanglement measurement is not invariant with respect to the partial realignment of different subsystems and for two observers accelerated case it is invariant. It is shown that the acceleration of the frame does not generate entanglement in any bipartite subsystems. Unlike the bipartite states, the genuine tripartite entanglement does not completely vanish in both one observer accelerated and two observers accelerated cases even in the limit of infinite acceleration. The degradation of tripartite entanglement is fast when two observers are accelerated than when one observer is accelerated. It is shown that tripartite entanglement is a better resource for quantum information processing than the bipartite entanglement in noninertial frames.     

Nonlocal effects in black body radiation

Nonlocal electrodynamics is a formalism developed to include nonlocal effects in the measurement process in order to account for the impossibility of instantaneous measurement of physical fields. This theory modifies Maxwell's electrodynamics by eliminating the hypothesis of locality that assumes an accelerated observer simultaneously equivalent to a comoving inertial frame of reference. In this scenario, the transformation between an inertial and accelerated observer is generalized which affects the properties of physical fields. In particular, we analyze how an uniformly accelerated observer perceives a homogeneous and isotropic black body radiation. We show that all nonlocal effects are transient and most relevant in the first period of acceleration.

     

Generalized Uncertainty Relation of One-Dimensional Rindler Oscillator

General Minkowski vacuum state is seen to be equivalent to a thermal bath for a Rindler uniformly accelerated observer. This paper calculates the generalized uncertainty relation of one-dimensional Rindler oscillator in the coordinate representation. The calculations show that for a Rindler uniformly accelerated observer there is not only general quantum fluctuation but also thermal fluctuation related to his acceleration.     

Contribution to Inertial Mass by Reaction of the Vacuum to Accelerated Motion

We present an approach to understanding the origin of inertia involving the electromagnetic component of the quantum vacuum and propose this as a step toward an alternative to Mach's principle. Preliminary analysis of the momentum flux of the classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation impinging on accelerated objects as viewed by an inertial observer suggests that the resistance to acceleration attributed to inertia may be at least in part a force of opposition originating in the vacuum. This analysis avoids the ad hoc modeling of particle-field interaction dynamics used previously by Haisch, Rueda, and Puthoff (Phys. Rev. A 49, 678, (1994)) to derive a similar result. This present approach is not dependent upon what happens at the particle point, but on how an external observer assesses the kinematical characteristics of the zero-point radiation impinging on the accelerated object. A relativistic form of the equation of motion results from the present analysis. Its manifestly covariant form yields a simple result that may be interpreted as a contribution to inertial mass. We note that our approach is related by the principle of equivalence to Sakharov's conjecture (Sov. Phys. Dokl. 12, 1040, (1968)) of a connection between Einstein action and the vacuum. The argument presented may thus be construed as a descendant of Sakharov's conjecture by which we attempt to attribute a mass-giving property to the electromagnetic component—and possibly other components—of the vacuum. In this view the physical momentum of an object is related to the radiative momentum flux of the vacuum instantaneously contained in the characteristic proper volume of the object. The interaction process between the accelerated object and the vacuum (akin to absorption or scattering of electromagnetic radiation) appears to generate a physical resistance (reaction force) to acceleration suggestive of what has been historically known as inertia.     

Orthonormal tetrad transport. II. Physical identification of the normals and curvatures of a time-like curve

A flat space-time time-like curve is considered from the point of view of an instantaneous comoving inertial observer. In the context of the ‘vierbein’ formalism a projection operator is introduced, able to project 3-vectors, belonging to the 3-space of the comoving observer, out of space-time 4-vectors. The motion of an accelerated particle relative to the comoving inertial frame is briefly reviewed by means of the projection technique, and the three space-like components of the Frenet-Serret tetrad are thus projected, and their motion relative to the comoving observer neatly stated. Finally, the physical identification of the normals and the curvatures obtains in terms of three-dimensional kinematics as seen by the instantaneous comoving observer.     

Spontaneous excitation of a circularly accelerated atom coupled to electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations

We study, using the formalism proposed by Dalibard, Dupont-Roc and Cohen-Tannoudji, the contributions of the vacuum fluctuation and radiation reaction to the rate of change of the mean atomic energy for a circularly accelerated multilevel atom coupled to vacuum electromagnetic fields in the ultrarelativistic limit. We find that the balance between vacuum fluctuation and radiation reaction is broken, which causes spontaneous excitations of accelerated ground state atoms in vacuum. Unlike for a circularly accelerated atom coupled to vacuum scalar fields, the contribution of radiation reaction is also affected by acceleration, and this term takes the same form as that of a linearly accelerated atom coupled to vacuum electromagnetic fields. For the contribution of vacuum fluctuations, we find that in contrast to the linear acceleration case, terms proportional to the Planckian factor are replaced by those proportional to a non-Planck exponential term, and this indicates that the radiation perceived by a circularly orbiting observer is no longer thermal as is in the linear acceleration case. However, for an ensemble of two-level atoms, an effective temperature can be defined in terms of the atomic transition rates, which is found to be dependent on the transition frequency of the atom. Specifically, we calculate the effective temperature as a function of the transition frequency and find that in contrast to the case of circularly accelerated atoms coupled to the scalar field, the effective temperature in the current case is always larger than the Unruh temperature.     

Hawking-Unruh effect on thermal equilibrium state

It is pointed out that the usual (Gibbs) thermal equilibrium state in Minkowski spacetime is no longer a thermal equilibrium state for a uniformly accelerated observer. Similarly, the thermal equilibrium state in Kruskal spacetime is not a thermal state for a Schwarzschild observer.     

MÄRZKE-WHEELER COORDINATES FOR ACCELERATED OBSERVERS IN SPECIAL RELATIVITY

In special relativity, the definition of coordinate systems adapted to generic accelerated observers is a long-standing problem, which has found unequivocal solutions only for the simplest motions. We show that the Märzke-Wheeler construction, an extension of the Einstein synchronization convention, produces accelerated systems of coordinates with desirable properties: (a) they reduce to Lorentz coordinates in a neighborhood of the observers' world-lines; (b) they index continuously and completely the causal envelope of the world-line (that is, the intersection of its causal past and its causal future: for well-behaved world-lines, the entire space-time). In particular, Märzke-Wheeler coordinates provide a smooth and consistent foliation of the causal envelope of any accelerated observer into space-like surfaces.We compare the Märzke-Wheeler procedure with other definitions of accelerated coordinates; we examine it in the special case of stationary motions, and we provide explicit coordinate transformations for uniformly accelerated and uniformly rotating observers. Finally, we employ the notion of Märzke-Wheeler simultaneity to clarify the relativistic paradox of the twins, by pinpointing the local origin of differential aging.     

Electrodynamics of hyperbolically accelerated charges V. The field of a charge in the Rindler space and the Milne space

We describe the electromagnetic field of a uniformly accelerated charge in its co-moving Rindler frame. It is shown that the electrical field lines coincide with the trajectories of photons. The self force of a charged particle at rest in Rindler space, and the increase of its weight due to its charge, is calculated. The general case of an accelerated charge in Rindler space is also considered. It is shown that the electrical field inside a uniformly charged spherical shell can be used as a measure of it 4-acceleration. A result that has earlier been deduced in a different way by Fugmann and Kretzschmar is confirmed, namely that the intensity of radiation from a point charge instantaneously at rest in an accelerated frame is proportional to the square of the relative acceleration of the charge and the observer. In particular it is shown that a freely falling charge in Rindler space radiates in accordance with Larmor’s formula. In this case the radiation energy is taken from the Schott energy. The energy of the electromagnetic field is analysed from the point of view of the Hirayama-separation, which generalizes the Teitelboim-separation to non-inertial frames, of the field in a bound part and an unbound part. A detailed account, with reference to the Rindler frame, of the field energy and particle energy is given for the case of a charge entering and leaving a region with hyperbolic motion. We also consider the electromagnetic field of a uniformly accelerated charge with reference to the Milne frame, which covers a different part of spacetime than the Rindler frame. The radiating part of the electromagnetic field is found in the Milne sector of spacetime.     

A cosmological interpretation of duality

We study the cosmological meaning of duality symmetry by considering a two dimensional model of string cosmology. We find that as seen by an internal observer in this universe, the scale factor rebounds at the self-dual length. This rebound is a consequence of the adiabatic expansion. Furthermore, in this situation there are four mathematically different scenarios which describe physically equivalent universes which are in fact undistinguishable. We also stress that R-duality suffices to prove that all the possible evolutions present a maximum temperature.     

The Equivalence Principle and an Electric Charge in a Gravitational Field II. A Uniformly Accelerated Charge Does Not Radiate

The electromagnetic field of a charge supported in a uniform gravitational field is examined from the viewpoint of an observer falling freely in the gravitational field. It is argued that such a charge, which from the principle of equivalence is moving with a uniform acceleration with respect to the (inertial) observer, could not be undergoing radiation losses at a rate implied by Larmor's formula. It is explicitly shown that the total energy in electromagnetic fields, including both velocity and acceleration fields, of a uniformly accelerated charge, at any given instant of the inertial observer's time, is just equal to the self-energy of a non-accelerated charge moving with a velocity equal to the instantaneous present velocity of the accelerated charge. At any given instant of time, and as seen with respect to the present position of the uniformly accelerated charge, although during the acceleration phase there is a radially outward component of the Poynting vector, there is throughout a radially inward Poynting flux component during the deceleration phase, and a null Poynting vector at the instant of the turn around. From Poynting's theorem, defined for any region of space strictly in terms of fixed instants of time, it is shown that a uniformly accelerated charge does not emit electromagnetic radiation, in contrast to what is generally believed. Contrary to some earlier suggestions in the literature, there is no continuous passing of electromagnetic radiation from a uniformly accelerated charge into the region inaccessible to a co-accelerating observer.