Accelerating systems as probes of Lorentz violation
Abstract
We investigate the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect in a local Lorentz-violating effective field theory, focusing on the quantum-field response of accelerated detectors. We canonically quantize a real scalar field exactly in the coefficients for Lorentz violation. The dispersion relation, Hamiltonian, and massless and massive Wightman functions are obtained. We determine the conditions under which the scalar dynamics preserves boost symmetry and distinguish these from the weaker conditions required for stationarity along a single accelerated worldline. The Wightman functions are used to construct the finite-time Unruh-DeWitt response for a uniformly accelerated detector. For generic coefficients the response is nonstationary and depends on both the duration and temporal location of the measurement. The spectrum, which is the resulting excitation rate as a function of the energy level difference in the detector, is obtained numerically. It shows discernable differences with the usual massive thermal spectrum for dimensionless coefficients on the order of 10−7. Experimental implications of the result are discussed. As an alternative viewpoint, we place Lorentz violation in the point-particle sector, derive the exact trajectory generated by a constant electric field, and study the proper-time Fourier response of a conventional scalar wave along the modified trajectory.
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BibTeX
@misc{bailey2026accelerating,
title = {{Accelerating systems as probes of Lorentz violation}},
author = {Quentin G Bailey and Nils A Nilsson and Sawyer J Star},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.33029},
eprint = {2609.33029},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05781975v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Accelerating systems as probes of Lorentz violation
AU - Quentin G Bailey
AU - Nils A Nilsson
AU - Sawyer J Star
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
PB - HAL
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.33029
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05781975v1
AB - We investigate the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect in a local Lorentz-violating effective field theory, focusing on the quantum-field response of accelerated detectors. We canonically quantize a real scalar field exactly in the coefficients for Lorentz violation. The dispersion relation, Hamiltonian, and massless and massive Wightman functions are obtained. We determine the conditions under which the scalar dynamics preserves boost symmetry and distinguish these from the weaker conditions required for stationarity along a single accelerated worldline. The Wightman functions are used to construct the finite-time Unruh-DeWitt response for a uniformly accelerated detector. For generic coefficients the response is nonstationary and depends on both the duration and temporal location of the measurement. The spectrum, which is the resulting excitation rate as a function of the energy level difference in the detector, is obtained numerically. It shows discernable differences with the usual massive thermal spectrum for dimensionless coefficients on the order of 10^−7. Experimental implications of the result are discussed. As an alternative viewpoint, we place Lorentz violation in the point-particle sector, derive the exact trajectory generated by a constant electric field, and study the proper-time Fourier response of a conventional scalar wave along the modified trajectory.
ER -