corner
corner
APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 94 » Issue 22
< Previous Article | Next Article >

Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 220401 (2005) [4 pages]

Ion Trap Simulations of Quantum Fields in an Expanding Universe

Download: PDF (91 kB) Buy this article Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

Paul M. Alsing1, Jonathan P. Dowling2,3, and G. J. Milburn4
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, 800 Yale Boulevard NE, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
2Department of Physics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
3Institute for Quantum Studies: Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
4Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, Department of Physics, School of Physical Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Received 1 December 2004; published 6 June 2005

We propose an experiment in which the phonon excitation of ion(s) in a trap, with a trap frequency exponentially modulated at rate κ, exhibits a thermal spectrum with an “Unruh” temperature given by kBT=ℏκ. We discuss the similarities of this experiment to the response of detectors in a de Sitter universe and the usual Unruh effect for uniformly accelerated detectors. We demonstrate a new Unruh effect for detectors that respond to antinormally ordered moments using the ion’s first blue sideband transition.

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.220401
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.220401
PACS:
03.65.Ud, 03.67.−a, 04.62.+v, 32.80.Pj
 
< Previous Article | Next Article >