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  • Open Access

Signatures of the circular Unruh effect in electric and magnetic dipole transitions of multilevel atoms

Gregor Janson1,*, Fabio Di Pumpo1,†, Lorenz Thoma1, and Maxim A. Efremov1,2

  • 1Institut für Quantenphysik and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), Universität Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89081 Ulm, Germany
  • 2German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Quantum Technologies, 89081 Ulm, Germany

  • *Contact author: gregor.janson@uni-ulm.de
  • †Contact author: fabio.di-pumpo@uni-ulm.de, fabio.di-pumpo@gmx.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043029 – Published 9 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6pz4-wncx

Abstract

The circular Unruh effect is the excitation of a detector moving along a planar circular trajectory within an electromagnetic vacuum. We demonstrate that the magnetic dipole transitions in an atom, acting as the detector, dominate the electric dipole transitions. Our analysis of both free-space and cavity schemes shows that the sensitivity to the circular Unruh effect can be maximized by balancing the minimization of mode volume against the resulting decrease in mode density. Moreover, we propose a measurement scheme that uses the atom's multilevel structure to suppress the spontaneous emission rate, thereby enabling the experimental detection of the circular Unruh effect.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043029– Published 9 October, 2026
  • Received 6 July 2026
  • Accepted 27 August 2026
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