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Heuristic viewpoint concerning the thermal ambience relative to an accelerated frame

  • Part VI. Invited Papers Dedicated To John Archibald Wheeler
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Abstract

A linear wave field in its Minkowski ground state is analyzed heuristically by two observers, one inertial, the other accelerating in a linear and uniform way. Relative to the accelerated observer, the zero-point oscillations of each Minkowski plane wave mode have an unusual Fourier spectrum. Its intensity is (i) the same for all plane wave modes, (ii) isotropic, and (iii) that of a thermal ambience (relative to the accelerated frame). The temperature of this ambience is given by the Davies-Unruh formula kT=(ħ/2π)(g/c). The existence of this ambience is incompatible with the requirement that the laws of nature be formulated in terms of tensors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University, 43210, Columbus, Ohio

    Ulrich H. Gerlach

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  1. Ulrich H. Gerlach
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Gerlach, U.H. Heuristic viewpoint concerning the thermal ambience relative to an accelerated frame. Found Phys 16, 667–677 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889628

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889628

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