Quantum detection of conicity

We investigate the sensitivity of an Unruh–DeWitt detector to the global features of a deficit angle that are otherwise classically inaccessible. Specifically, we consider a detector placed inside an infinite thin hollow cylinder whose spacetime is everywhere flat but outside of which the spacetime...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wan Cong, Jiří Bičák, David Kubizňák, Robert B. Mann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-09-01
Series:Physics Letters B
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269321004226
Description
Summary:We investigate the sensitivity of an Unruh–DeWitt detector to the global features of a deficit angle that are otherwise classically inaccessible. Specifically, we consider a detector placed inside an infinite thin hollow cylinder whose spacetime is everywhere flat but outside of which the spacetime has a deficit angle and study its response to a scalar field to which it couples. We find that the response of the detector is sensitive to the deficit angle, despite the fact that it does not interact with the cylinder.
ISSN:0370-2693