Vacuum Condensate, Geometric Phase, Unruh Effect, and Temperature Measurement

• Main Authors: Antonio Capolupo, Giuseppe Vitiello
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2015-01-01
• Series: Advances in High Energy Physics
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/878043

In our previous work the possibility to use the Aharonov-Anandan invariant as a tool in the analysis of disparate systems has been shown, including Hawking and Unruh effects, as well as graphene physics and thermal states. We show that the vacuum condensation, characterizing such systems, is also related with geometric phases and we analyze the properties of the geometric phase of systems represented by mixed state and undergoing a nonunitary evolution. In particular, we consider two-level atoms accelerated by an external potential and interacting with a thermal state. We propose the realization of Mach-Zehnder interferometers which can prove the existence of the Unruh effect and can allow very precise measurements of temperature.