Geometric phase for an accelerated two-level atom and the Unruh effect

Abstract

We study, in the framework of open quantum systems, the geometric phase acquired by a uniformly accelerated two-level atom undergoing nonunitary evolution due to its coupling to a bath of fluctuating vacuum electromagnetic fields in the multipolar scheme. We find that the phase variation due to the acceleration can be in principle observed via atomic interferometry between the accelerated atom and the inertial one, thus providing an evidence of the Unruh effect.

12 pages, no figures

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• Hot Accelerated Qubits: Decoherence, Thermalization, Secular Growth and Reliable Late-time Predictions
• Dynamics and quantum entanglement of two-level atoms in de Sitter spacetime
• Hot Cosmic Qubits: Late-Time de Sitter Evolution and Critical Slowing Down
• Geometric phase outside a Schwarzschild black hole and the Hawking effect
• Dynamical behavior and geometric phase for a circularly accelerated two-level atom
• Geometry of quantum evolution in a nonequilibrium environment
• Shaking photons from the vacuum: acceleration radiation from vibrating atoms
• Detecting modified vacuum fluctuations due to presence of a boundary by means of the geometric phase