Concept information
Preferred term
Unruh effect
Definition(s)
- The Unruh effect (also known as the Fulling–Davies–Unruh effect) is a kinematic prediction of quantum field theory that an accelerating observer will observe a thermal bath, like blackbody radiation, whereas an inertial observer would observe none. In other words, the background appears to be warm from an accelerating reference frame; in layman's terms, an accelerating thermometer (like one being waved around) in empty space, removing any other contribution to its temperature, will record a non-zero temperature, just from its acceleration. Heuristically, for a uniformly accelerating observer, the ground state of an inertial observer is seen as a mixed state in thermodynamic equilibrium with a non-zero temperature bath. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unruh_effect)
Broader concept(s)
In other languages
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French
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-SS2QJGHT-5
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