University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > DAMTP Friday GR Seminar > On the thermodynamics of moving bodies

On the thermodynamics of moving bodies


If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Joan Camps.

A particle detector undergoing stationary motion has a time-independent response. Well-known examples are inertial motion (no response) and constant proper acceleration (thermal response due to Unruh effect), but there are four other types of stationary motion. One is ``acceleration with drift’’, which is realized by a detector moving with constant velocity in a plane parallel to the horizon of a static black brane. The local temperature on the plane is uniform so, by restricting the angular response to directions within the plane, one has a model for inertial motion in a heatbath.

The standard theory of motion in a radiation heatbath is due to Pauli and Peebles & Wilkinson, and others. It is based on a photon gas model and amounts to an application of the relativistic Doppler shift. This is used to subtract from the CMB measurements a dipole term due to our motion relative to the CMB rest frame.

Using the ``acceleration with drift’’ method, one finds a frequency-dependent dipole that agrees with the standard theory at high frequencies but not at low frequencies. The possible origin of this discrepancy will be discussed.

This talk is part of the DAMTP Friday GR Seminar series.

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