Formalism
Definition
Spacetime configurations
Properties
Spacetimes
| black hole spacetimes | vanishing angular momentum | positive angular momentum |
|---|---|---|
| vanishing charge | Schwarzschild spacetime | Kerr spacetime |
| positive charge | Reissner-Nordstrom spacetime | Kerr-Newman spacetime |
| wormhole spacetimes | vanishing angular momentum |
|---|---|
| vanishing charge | Schwarzschild wormhole |
| positive charge | Reissner-Nordström wormhole |
Quantum theory
algebraic quantum field theory (perturbative, on curved spacetimes, homotopical)
quantum mechanical system, quantum probability
interacting field quantization
In relativistic quantum field theory the Unruh effect [Fulling 1973] is the phenomenon that uniformly accelerated observers, even in vacuum, observe a thermal bath of particles.
This phenomenon is a close cousin of that of Hawking radiation of black holes
The original articles:
Stephen A. Fulling: Nonuniqueness of Canonical Field Quantization in Riemannian Space-Time, Phys. Rev. D 7 (1973) 2850 [doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.7.2850]
William G. Unruh: Notes on black-hole evaporation, Phys. Rev. D 14 (1976) 870 [doi;10.1103/PhysRevD.14.870]
Review:
Luis C. B. Crispino, Atsushi Higuchi, George E. A. Matsas: The Unruh effect and its applications, Rev. Mod. Phys. 80 (2008) 787-838 [arXiv:0710.5373, doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.80.787]
Morgan H. Lynch, Notes on the experimental observation of the Unruh effect [arXiv:2205.06591]
See also
Scholarpedia: Unruh effect
Wikipedia, Unruh effect
In the context of QFT on curved spacetimes:
Last revised on January 8, 2026 at 17:08:41. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.