Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Quantum Correlations Between Two Accelerated Detectors

Abstract

We quantify the quantum correlations between two accelerated detectors coupled to a scalar field in a cavity. It has been realized that an accelerated detector will experience a thermal bath, which is termed the Unruh effect. We examine the similarities and differences for quantum correlations regarding either temperature or acceleration. As the accelerations (resp. temperatures) of the detectors increase, the entanglement decreases to zero at some instant but the mutual information (resp. discord) can be amplified. As the accelerations increase but are in opposite directions, the quantum correlations decay. Importantly, we also reveal that larger quantum correlations can appear in certain nonequilibrium scenarios in which either the acceleration difference or the coupling difference becomes significant.