Abstract
We propose an experiment in which the phonon excitation of ion(s) in a trap, with a trap frequency exponentially modulated at rate , exhibits a thermal spectrum with an “Unruh” temperature given by . We discuss the similarities of this experiment to the response of detectors in a de Sitter universe and the usual Unruh effect for uniformly accelerated detectors. We demonstrate a new Unruh effect for detectors that respond to antinormally ordered moments using the ion’s first blue sideband transition.
- Received 1 December 2004
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.220401
©2005 American Physical Society