The rate of spontaneous decay of a moving atom

James D. Cresser*, Stephen M. Barnett

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    20 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We show how the physical processes responsible for the spontaneous decay of a dipole atom conspire to guarantee that the spontaneous decay rate of the atom transforms between different inertial reference frames exactly as required by time dilation. The method employed makes use of familiar basic properties of Maxwell's equations and special relativity.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1755-1759
    Number of pages5
    JournalJournal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
    Volume36
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2003

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