Spontaneous excitation of an accelerated atom: The contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction

Details Spontaneous excitation of an accelerated atom: The contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction Spontaneous excitation of an accelerated atom: The contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction

1994-08-16

arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9408019v1

Phys.Rev. A50 (1994) 1755-1763

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

13 pages, KONS-RGKU-94-09, to appear in Phys. Rev. A

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevA.50.1755

We consider an atom in interaction with a massless scalar quantum field. We discuss the structure of the rate of variation of the atomic energy for an arbitrary stationary motion of the atom through the quantum vacuum. Our main intention is to identify and to analyze quantitatively the distinct contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction to the spontaneous excitation of a uniformly accelerated atom in its ground state. This gives an understanding of the role of the different physical processes underlying the Unruh effect. The atom's evolution into equilibrium and the Einstein coefficients for spontaneous excitation and spontaneous emission are calculated.

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