PIRSA:21040033

Getting hot without accelerating: vacuum thermal effects from conformal quantum mechanics

Arzano, M. (2021). Getting hot without accelerating: vacuum thermal effects from conformal quantum mechanics. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/21040033

Arzano, Michele. Getting hot without accelerating: vacuum thermal effects from conformal quantum mechanics. Perimeter Institute, Apr. 29, 2021, https://pirsa.org/21040033 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:21040033,
            doi = {10.48660/21040033},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/21040033},
            author = {Arzano, Michele},
            keywords = {Quantum Gravity},
            language = {en},
            title = {Getting hot without accelerating: vacuum thermal effects from conformal quantum mechanics},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2021},
            month = {apr},
            note = {PIRSA:21040033 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Michele Arzano

University of Naples Federico II

Talk number
PIRSA:21040033
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract

In this talk I will discuss how the generators of radial conformal symmetries in Minkowski space-time are related to the generators of time evolution in conformal quantum mechanics. Within this correspondence I will show that in conformal quantum mechanics the state corresponding to the inertial vacuum for a conformally invariant field in Minkowski space-time has the structure of a thermofield double. The latter is built from a bipartite "vacuum state" corresponding to the ground state of the generators of hyperbolic time evolution, which cover only a portion of the time domain. When such generators are the ones of conformal Killing vectors mapping a causal diamond in itself and of dilations, the temperature of the thermofield double reproduces, respectively, the diamond temperature and the Milne temperature perceived by observers whose constant proper time hyper-surfaces define a hyperbolic slicing of the future cone. I will point out how this result indicates that, for conformal invariant fields, the fundamental ingredient for vacuum thermal effects in flat-space time is the non-eternal nature of the lifetime of observers rather than their acceleration.