Testing Electromagnetic Memory via Acceleration-Induced Phase Imprints in Superconductors

Abstract

Electromagnetic memory is an infrared observable of gauge theory associated with soft photons and large gauge transformations. Despite its fundamental theoretical importance, it has not yet been experimentally verified. From a phenomenological perspective, a transient electromagnetic configuration can leave a persistent gauge-invariant phase imprint on charged coherent states after the local field has vanished. We point out that the electric field and associated gauge potential induced inside a normal conductor by gravitational acceleration can provide a clean source for imprinting this phase, and it can then be read out through a superconducting protocol. For representative parameters, the predicted signal can lie within the range of present sensitivities, providing a possible tabletop route toward testing electromagnetic memory.