Erwin Schrödinger Center for Quantum Science & Technology (ESQ)

The Unruh effect combines quantum physics and the theory of relativity. So far it has not been possible to measure or observe it, but a research team from the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ) and a team of the TU Wien together with research groups form Nottingham and Vancouver have shed light on how this could be achieved.

"To observe the Unruh effect directly, as William Unruh described it, is completely impossible for us today," explains Dr. Sebastian Erne, ESQ Fellow at the Vienna University of Technology. “You would need a measuring device accelerated to almost the speed of light within a microsecond to see even a tiny Unruh-effect -we can't do that.” However, there is another way to learn about this strange effect: using so-called quantum simulators.

The team’s research has been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

For more information see:

https://www.tuwien.at/en/tu-wien/news/news-articles/news/was-man-durch-ultrakalte-atome-ueber-das-quantenvakuum-lernt0

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/scientists-make-sound-waves-at-the-black-hole-laboratory