An advanced undergraduate derivation of acceleration thermality

Abstract

The thermal radioactivity of beta-decay photons, described by a 1D Planck distribution, can be modeled as classical radiation emitted by an accelerated electron. Here, we present the basics of the out-of-equilibrium computation to illustrate acceleration thermality. Suitable for advanced undergraduate calculations, we demonstrate that an exactly soluble non-uniformly accelerated trajectory enables spectral analysis of the emitted photons, facilitates time evolution, and reveals Planckian radiation.

10 pages, 1 figure