Cosmological horizons radiate

Abstract

Abstract Gibbons and Hawking (Phys. Rev. D, 15 (1977) 2738) have shown that the horizon of de Sitter space emits radiation in the same way as the event horizon of the black hole. But actual cosmological horizons are not event horizons, except in de Sitter space. Nevertheless, this paper proves Gibbons' and Hawking's radiation formula as an exact result for any flat space expanding with strictly positive Hubble parameter. The paper gives visual and intuitive insight into why this is the case. The paper also indicates how cosmological horizons are related to the dynamical Casimir effect, which makes experimental tests with laboratory analogues possible.