Unruh effect universality: emergent conical geometry from density operator

Abstract

Abstract The Unruh effect has been investigated from the point of view of the quantum statistical Zubarev density operator in space with the Minkowski metric. Quantum corrections of the fourth order in acceleration to the energy-momentum tensor of real and complex scalar fields, and Dirac field are calculated. Both massless and massive fields are considered. The method for regularization of discovered infrared divergences for scalar fields is proposed. The calculated corrections make it possible to substantiate the Unruh effect from the point of view of the statistical approach, and to explicitly show its universality for various quantum field theories of massless and massive fields. The obtained results exactly coincide with the ones obtained earlier by calculation of the vacuum aver- age of energy-momentum tensor in a space with a conical singularity. Thus, the duality of two methods for describing an accelerated medium is substantiated. One may also speak about the emergence of geometry with conical singularity from thermodynamics. In particular, the polynomiality of the energy-momentum tensor and the absence of higher-order corrections in acceleration can be explicitly demonstrated.