Abstract
We study the correlations between the particles emitted by moving mirrors. To this end, we first analyze the two-point function of the stress tensor of the radiation field. In this we generalize the work undertaken by Carlitz and Willey. To further analyze how the vacuum correlations on are scattered by the mirror and redistributed among the pairs of particles produced, we use a more powerful approach based on the value of which is conditional on the detection of a given particle on We apply both methods to the fluxes emitted by a uniformly accelerated mirror. This case is particularly interesting because of its strong interferences which lead to a vanishing flux, and because of its divergences which are due to the infinite blueshift effects associated with the horizons. Using the conditional value of we reveal the existence of correlations between the particles created and their partners in a domain where the mean fluxes and the two-point function vanish. This demonstrates that the scattering by an accelerated mirror leads to a steady conversion of vacuum fluctuations into pairs of quanta. In the last section, we study the scattering by two uniformly accelerated mirrors which follow symmetrical trajectories (i.e., which possess the same horizons). When using the Davies-Fulling model, the Bogoliubov coefficients encoding pair creation vanish because of perfectly destructive interferences. When using regularized amplitudes, these interferences are inevitably lost, thereby giving rise to pair creation.
- Received 18 September 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.024022
©2003 American Physical Society