Cavity-controlled inhibition of decoherence in accelerated quantum detectors
Phys. Rev. A 114, 032209 – Published 14 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cwkf-ylmg
Abstract
Vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields provide an unavoidable environment for any quantum system coupled to it. We study the interplay between boundary conditions and acceleration in determining decoherence of a two-level Unruh-DeWitt detector coupled to a scalar field in a cylindrical cavity. We show that the decoherence rate closely follows the emission profile, and exhibits Purcell-like enhancement for both inertial and uniformly accelerated detectors. The acceleration induces an effective smearing of the resonant density of states, diluting the resonance enhancement for large accelerations while replacing the inertial off-resonant decay with an oscillatory behavior for small accelerations. For moderate accelerations, this interplay between cavity-induced and acceleration-assisted effects results in an extended region of cavity parameters where decoherence is strongly suppressed, particularly in regimes where the inertial detector otherwise experience strong decoherence. Thus, contrary to naive expectations, the Unruh thermality in a suitably engineered cavity can enhance rather than degrade quantum coherence, providing a very uncharacteristic feature of quantum fields in noninertial frames.
