Effects of a uniform acceleration on atom-field interactions

Abstract

We review some quantum electrodynamical effects related to the uniform acceleration of atoms in vacuum. After discussing the energy level shifts of a uniformly accelerated atom in vacuum, we investigate the atom-wall Casimir-Polder force for accelerated atoms, and the van der Waals/Casimir-Polder interaction between two accelerated atoms. The possibility of detecting the Unruh effect through these phenomena is also discussed in detail.

6 pages. Special Issue: 20th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics - Stockholm - June 2013

References in corpus (4)

• The Unruh effect and its applications
• Spontaneous absorption of an accelerated hydrogen atom near a conducting plane in vacuum
• Position dependent energy level shifts of an accelerated atom in the presence of a boundary
• Field fluctuations near a conducting plate and Casimir-Polder forces in the presence of boundary conditions

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Resonance interaction energy between two accelerated identical atoms in a coaccelerated frame and the Unruh effect