Quantum Simulation of Oscillatory Unruh Effect with Superposed Trajectories

Quantum Simulation of Oscillatory Unruh Effect with Superposed Trajectories | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Quantum Simulation of Oscillatory Unruh Effect with Superposed Trajectories Zehua Tian, Xu Cheng, Yue Li, Xingyu Zhao, Waner Hou, Mingdong Zhu, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4753072/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Unruh effect predicts an astonishing phenomenon that an accelerated detector would detect counts despite being in a quantum field vacuum in the rest frame. Since the required detector acceleration for its direct observation is prohibitively large, recent analog studies in quantum simulation platforms help in revealing various properties of the Unruh effect and thus to explore the not-yet-understood physics of quantum gravity. To further reveal the quantum aspect of the Unruh effect, analogous experimental exploration of the correlation with respect to the detector and the field, and the consequences for coherent quantum trajectories of the detector that without classical counterparts, are essential steps but currently missing. Here, we utilize a laser-controlled trapped ion to experimentally simulate an oscillating detector coupled with a cavity field. We observe joint excitation of both the detector and the field in the detector’s frame, matching with the coordinated dynamics predicted by the Unruh effect. Particularly, we simulate the detector moving in single and superposed quantum trajectories, where the latter case shows coherent interference of excitation. Our demonstration reveals properties of quantum coherent superposition of accelerating trajectories associated with quantum gravity theories that have no classical counterparts, and may offer a new avenue to investigate phenomena in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. We also show how a generalization of the method and results in this work may be beneficial for direct observation of the Unruh effect. Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Quantum simulation Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Quantum information Unruh effect Quantum simulation Quantum coherence Trapped ion Full Text Additional Declarations (Not answered) Supplementary Files supplements.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4753072","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":338685732,"identity":"5278d243-28c6-41f3-8a0a-9a32cda8a986","order_by":0,"name":"Zehua 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