Phys.org  September 8, 2021
An accelerating photodetector is predicted to see photons in the electromagnetic vacuum. However, the extreme accelerations required have prevented the direct experimental verification of this quantum vacuum effect. Researchers at Dartmouth College considered many accelerating photodetectors that are contained within an electromagnetic cavity. They showed that the resulting photon production from the cavity vacuum can be collectively enhanced such as to be measurable. When the detector number exceeds a certain critical value, the vacuum photon production undergoes a phase transition from a normal phase to an enhanced super radiant-like, inverted lasing phase. Such a model may be realized as a mechanical membrane with a dense concentration of optically active defects undergoing gigahertz flexural motion within a superconducting microwave cavity. They provided estimates suggesting that recent related experimental devices are close to demonstrating this inverted vacuum photon lasing phase…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Cavity-accelerating photodetectors scheme. Credit: Communications Physics volume 4, Article number: 128 (2021)Â