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Unstable mode and the Unruh-DeWitt detector

Bruno S. Felipe1,* and João P. M. Pitelli2,†

  • *Contact author: brunfeli@ifi.unicamp.br
  • †Contact author: pitelli@unicamp.br
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 085027 – Published 29 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qy6r-b55b

Abstract

We investigate the quantization of a single unstable mode in a real scalar field subject to a Robin boundary condition in (1+1)-dimensional half-Minkowski spacetime. The instability arises from an imaginary frequency mode—analogous to that of the inverted harmonic oscillator—requiring the rigged Hilbert space formalism for consistent quantization. Within this framework, the unstable mode is naturally described as a well-defined decaying (or growing) quantum state with a characteristic mean lifetime. We investigate its physical consequences via the response of an Unruh-DeWitt detector along static, inertial, and uniformly accelerated trajectories. For static and inertial observers, the detector response exhibits a Breit-Wigner resonance profile, with a decay width determined by the unstable frequency and a Doppler factor. In the Neumann limit, infrared divergences emerge from arbitrarily low-frequency modes. Interestingly, for accelerated detectors, the response acquires a nontrivial dependence on acceleration, and the Neumann limit yields a finite, oscillatory signal rather than a divergence, suggesting that acceleration can act as an effective infrared regulator.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 085027– Published 29 October, 2025
  • Received 29 August 2025
  • Accepted 10 October 2025
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