Particle detector in a position-superposed black hole spacetime

Abstract:We calculate the response of an Unruh--DeWitt detector in a 2+1d spacetime that contains a BTZ black hole in a superposition of locations as viewed in a reference system associated with the detector. Upon performing a Quantum Reference Frame (QRF) transformation, this can also be seen as a detector in a superposition of locations in a single classical black hole spacetime. We use this to derive the form of the interaction of the detector and scalar field in such a superposition of spacetimes, ignoring backreaction. We define a measurement whose outcome probabilities contain a nonclassical contribution that would be absent for a black hole described by a classical mixture of positions. Finally, we compare our results with a previously studied setup involving a mass-superposed black hole by Foo et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 181301 (2022)], and highlight a key difference. We show analytically how this difference arises and find singularities in the mass-superposed spectrum probed by the detector.

10+23 pages, all comments welcome!

arXiv:2604.11897 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2604.11897v2 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.11897 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

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