Unruh Radiation 2
Yesterday, we laid the groundwork for describing the Unruh Effect and the particle/waves that are emitted: Unruh radiation. This is where the Casimir Effect and the Unruh Effect overlap: they both postulate that the vacuum of space is not really empty at all.
The Unruh Effect is named after W. G. Unruh who first described this theoretical phenomenon in 1976. It has never actually been measured or observed. The Unruh Effect, in theory, causes the emission of radiation in the form of a particle, and that this particle will propagate to infinity. This is called Unruh radiation.
In his original work, Unruh predicted that if you move through a vacuum, you would not see nothing but rather, effectively, a space full of particles, real or virtual, whose density increases with acceleration. According to Wikipedia, “The Unruh effect (or sometimes Fulling–Davies–Unruh effect) is the prediction that an accelerating observer will observe blackbody radiation where an inertial observer would observe none. In other words, the background appears to be warm from an accelerating reference frame; in layman's terms, a thermometer waved around in empty space, subtracting any other contribution to its temperature, will record a non-zero temperature. The ground state for an inertial observer is seen as in thermodynamic equilibrium with a non-zero temperature by the uniformly accelerating observer.”
As described in the quote above, a simple experiment, is proposed, should it ever be performed, which could prove the existence of Unruh Radiation. You would simply take a very sensitive thermometer into space, let it equilibrate to the temperature of space then wave it around. If Unruh Effect exists, the thermometer would register a rise in temperature because it is rubbing against the quantum field and virtual particles, i.e. bathed in Unruh Radiation. I know this is far too simplistic, but basically you get something for nothing. More importantly, if the effect exists, you get something to push against in a vacuum if you have motion at all. So it is postulated (but never proven) that Unruh Radiation might be the driving principle behind both the EmDrive and its variant, the Cannae Drive.
I've already covered the EmDrive which seems to work but nobody has had an explanation up until now. Unruh Radiation may be the answer. Tomorrow, I'll cover a variation of that drive called the Cannae Drive which may also use Unruh Radiation. In the meantime, here is a cute little image from Nonequlibrium.net by way of Physics Napkins that illustrates the Unruh Effect:
The Unruh Effect is named after W. G. Unruh who first described this theoretical phenomenon in 1976. It has never actually been measured or observed. The Unruh Effect, in theory, causes the emission of radiation in the form of a particle, and that this particle will propagate to infinity. This is called Unruh radiation.
In his original work, Unruh predicted that if you move through a vacuum, you would not see nothing but rather, effectively, a space full of particles, real or virtual, whose density increases with acceleration. According to Wikipedia, “The Unruh effect (or sometimes Fulling–Davies–Unruh effect) is the prediction that an accelerating observer will observe blackbody radiation where an inertial observer would observe none. In other words, the background appears to be warm from an accelerating reference frame; in layman's terms, a thermometer waved around in empty space, subtracting any other contribution to its temperature, will record a non-zero temperature. The ground state for an inertial observer is seen as in thermodynamic equilibrium with a non-zero temperature by the uniformly accelerating observer.”
As described in the quote above, a simple experiment, is proposed, should it ever be performed, which could prove the existence of Unruh Radiation. You would simply take a very sensitive thermometer into space, let it equilibrate to the temperature of space then wave it around. If Unruh Effect exists, the thermometer would register a rise in temperature because it is rubbing against the quantum field and virtual particles, i.e. bathed in Unruh Radiation. I know this is far too simplistic, but basically you get something for nothing. More importantly, if the effect exists, you get something to push against in a vacuum if you have motion at all. So it is postulated (but never proven) that Unruh Radiation might be the driving principle behind both the EmDrive and its variant, the Cannae Drive.
I've already covered the EmDrive which seems to work but nobody has had an explanation up until now. Unruh Radiation may be the answer. Tomorrow, I'll cover a variation of that drive called the Cannae Drive which may also use Unruh Radiation. In the meantime, here is a cute little image from Nonequlibrium.net by way of Physics Napkins that illustrates the Unruh Effect:
No comments have been added yet.
Tales of the Vuduri
Tidbits and insights into the 35th century world of the Vuduri.
- Michael Brachman's profile
- 21 followers
