Accelerating Waveguides Exhibit Asymmetric Excitation of Left- Vs Right-Handed Photons, Violating Noether Symmetry

The fundamental symmetry governing light’s behaviour predicts conservation of its circular polarization, yet recent theoretical work suggests this principle may not always hold true. Adrian del Rio from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, along with colleagues, now demonstrates that this symmetry breaks down even in seemingly simple scenarios, specifically within accelerating waveguides. The team quantifies how linear and rotational acceleration induces an asymmetry between right- and left-handed photons, revealing that detectors moving with the accelerating waveguide can detect photon pairs spontaneously appearing from the vacuum. This groundbreaking result establishes that the classical conservation law linked to duality symmetry fails in non-inertial systems, even in the absence of gravity, and offers a pathway for experimental verification using analogue platforms to explore these relativistic effects.

Symmetries, Anomalies, and Curved Spacetime Physics

This document presents a comprehensive exploration of advanced theoretical physics, focusing on the interplay between symmetry, anomalies, and the behaviour of quantum fields in curved spacetime. The research delves into fundamental concepts like symmetries in physics, as described by Dirac and Noether’s theorem, and investigates anomalies, situations where expected symmetries break down at the quantum level, particularly relevant to high-energy physics and quantum field theory. The work extensively examines electromagnetic duality, a symmetry relating electric and magnetic fields, and explores associated anomalies with profound implications for the consistency of physical theories. The analysis relies on sophisticated mathematical tools, including special functions like Bessel and Legendre polynomials, and integral transforms such as Fourier and Laplace transforms, crucial for solving the complex differential equations that arise in theoretical physics.

The document emphasizes mathematical rigor, referencing standard resources like Gradshteyn and Ryzhik’s Table of Integrals, and utilizes the Digital Library of Mathematical Functions (DLMF) to ensure accuracy and reliability. Specific applications explored include the mathematical analysis of wave propagation in waveguides, relevant to telecommunications and optics, and a detailed investigation of black hole thermodynamics, connecting gravity, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics. The research also focuses on accelerating waveguides and methods for detecting anomalies in physical theories, suggesting an interest in the broader field of quantum gravity, which seeks to reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity.

Accelerated Waveguides Break Electromagnetic Duality

This research demonstrates that electromagnetic duality, a fundamental symmetry within Maxwell’s equations, breaks down when applied to quantum field theory in accelerating systems. The team investigated the behaviour of photons within a waveguide subjected to both linear and rotational acceleration, revealing a failure of conservation for a quantity related to the difference between right- and left-handed photons. This symmetry breaking occurs even without gravity, indicating that electromagnetic duality is not absolute in the quantum realm when considering non-inertial frames of reference. The findings show that accelerating detectors within the rotating waveguide will register an imbalance in the number of right- and left-handed photons originating from the vacuum, effectively detecting photon pairs created by this symmetry violation.

This effect arises from the interplay between acceleration and the quantum nature of the electromagnetic field, demonstrating a relativistic phenomenon where classical conservation laws are modified. The work provides a concrete theoretical basis for testing these predictions using analogue systems, offering a pathway to experimentally verify the quantum anomaly associated with electromagnetic duality. Future research could explore the implications of approximations within the quantization process and the treatment of the waveguide, and investigate the system under more complex conditions. Extending this analysis to explore the effects of stronger acceleration or different waveguide geometries could provide deeper insights into the fundamental relationship between symmetry, acceleration, and quantum field theory.