Particles and energy fluxes from a conformal field theory perspective

We analyze the creation of particles in two dimensions under the action of conformal transformations. We focus our attention on Mobius transformations and compare the usual approach, based on the Bogoliubov coefficients, with an alternative but equivalent viewpoint based on correlation functions. In the latter approach the absence of particle production under full Mobius transformations is manifest. Moreover, we give examples, using the moving-mirror analogy, to illustrate the close relation between the production of quanta and energy.

Figure 1

A mirror with two hyperbolic branches.

Figure 2

Hyperbolic mirror accelerating from rest.

Figure 3

A single-branch hyperbolic mirror.