Decay of accelerated protons and the existence of the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect
Apr, 2001Citations per year
Abstract: (arXiv)
We investigate the weak decay of uniformly {\em accelerated protons} in the context of {\em standard} Quantum Field Theory. Because the mean {\em proper} lifetime of a particle is a scalar, the same value for this observable must be obtained in the inertial and coaccelerated frames. We are only able to achieve this equality by considering the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect. This reflects the fact that the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect is mandatory for the consistency of Quantum Field Theory. There is no question about its existence provided one accepts the validity of standard Quantum Field Theory in flat spacetime.- p: acceleration
- p: semileptonic decay
- p: lifetime
- p: width
- Unruh effect
- field theory
- space-time
- dimension: 2
- numerical calculations
- p --> n positron neutrino/e
References(26)
Figures(1)