On the possibility of measuring the Unruh effect

Abstract

There is a persistent state of confusion regarding the nature of the Unruh effect. We will argue that, in contrast to some interpretations thereof, the effect does not represent any novel physics and that, by its very nature, the effect is fundamentally unmeasurable in all experiments of the kind that have been contemplated until now. Also, we discuss what aspects connected with this effect one might consider as possibilities to be explored empirically and what their precise meaning may be regarding the issue at hand.

V3: 21 pages. New section added and conclusions extended. Accepted for publication in Foundations of Physics

References in corpus (6)

• The Unruh effect and its applications
• Using Berry's phase to detect the Unruh effect at lower accelerations
• Signatures of the Unruh effect from electrons accelerated by ultra-strong laser fields
• Table-top creation of entangled multi-keV photon pairs via the Unruh effect
• Quantum radiation by electrons in lasers and the Unruh effect
• Laboratory soft x-ray emission due to the Hawking-Unruh effect?

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• Quest for a 'direct' observation of the Unruh effect with classical electrodynamics: In honor of Atsushi Higuchi 60th anniversary
• Gravity and decoherence: the double slit experiment revisited
• A Vector type of Unruh-DeWitt-like detector
• Dynamical Maps for Accelerating Detectors