Speaker
Description
Already in general relativity, much of the most interesting physics has to do with semi-classical extensions and their physical effects. Early on, foundational issues were addressed through the introduction of the Unruh–DeWitt detect model which allowed an operational notion of particle detection. This described the then-recently discovered, semi-classical effects—like the Unruh effect and Hawking evaporation—in terms of concrete, observable quantities. In this talk, I will present two ongoing projects on detector models beyond general relativity. The first example is taken from macroscopic electrodynamics: A detector moving in a uniaxial crystal will observe non-trivial detection rates even in inertial motion when moving at an angle to the optic axis. Geometrically, this example is a case of a bimetric theory (or more broadly, of a quartic dispersion relation). The second example is taken from analogue space-times, and demonstrates the non-trivial dependence on space-time dimension of a detector response: In odd space-time dimensions, the detector response will be bosonic/fermionic for fermionic/bosonic massless particles, while for massive particles the response is significantly more involved.