[2405.06002] Poincaré invariance and the Unruh effect Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Physics > General Physics arXiv:2405.06002 (physics) [Submitted on 9 May 2024 ( v1 ), last revised 25 Apr 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: Poincaré invariance and the Unruh effect Authors: Alexandre Deur , Stanley J. Brodsky , Craig D. Roberts , Balša Terzić View a PDF of the paper titled Poincar\'e invariance and the Unruh effect, by Alexandre Deur and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: In quantum field theory, the vacuum is popularly considered to be a complex medium populated with virtual particle + antiparticle pairs. To an observer experiencing uniform acceleration, it is generally held that these virtual particles become real, appearing as a gas at a temperature that grows with the acceleration. This is the Unruh effect. However, it has been shown that vacuum complexity is an artifact, produced by treating quantum field theory in a manner that does not manifestly enforce causality. Choosing a quantization approach that patently enforces causality, the quantum field theory vacuum is barren, bereft even of virtual particles. We show that acceleration has no effect on a trivial vacuum; hence, there is no Unruh effect in such a treatment of quantum field theory. Since the standard calculations suggesting an Unruh effect are formally consistent, insofar as they have been completed, there must be a cancelling contribution that is omitted in the usual analyses. We argue that it is the dynamical action of conventional Lorentz transformations on the structure of an Unruh detector. Comments: 20 pages, 4 Figures. Version published in Particles Subjects: General Physics (physics.gen-ph) Report number: JLAB-PHY-24-4003, SLAC-PUB-17762, NJU-INP 088/24 Cite as: arXiv:2405.06002 [physics.gen-ph] (or arXiv:2405.06002v2 [physics.gen-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2405.06002 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Particles 2026, 9(2), 42 Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.3390/particles9020042 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Alexandre Deur [ view email ] [v1] Thu, 9 May 2024 14:24:46 UTC (210 KB) [v2] Sat, 25 Apr 2026 12:26:21 UTC (5,495 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Poincar\'e invariance and the Unruh effect, by Alexandre Deur and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: physics.gen-ph < prev | next > new | recent | 2024-05 Change to browse by: physics References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab) Major funding support from