The recoils of the accelerated detector and the decoherence of its fluxes Original Research Article

The recoils of an accelerated system caused by the transitions characterizing thermal equilibrium are taken into account through the quantum character of the position of the system. The specific model is that of a two-level ion accelerated by a constant electric field. The introduction of the wave function of the center of mass position clarifies the role of the classical trajectory in the thermalization process. Then the effects of the recoils on the properties of the emitted fluxes are analyzed. The decoherence of successive emissions induced by the recoils is manifest and simplifies the properties of the fluxes. The fundamental reason for which one cannot neglect the recoils upon considering accelerated systems is stressed and put in parallel with the emergence of “transplanckian” frequencies in Hawking radiation.