Unruh-DeWitt particle detectors in bouncing cosmologies

Abstract

We study semi-classical particle production in non-singular bouncing cosmologies by employing the Unruh-DeWitt model of a particle detector propagating in this class of spacetimes. The scale factor for the bouncing cosmology is derived analytically and is inspired by the modified Friedmann equation employed in the loop quantum cosmology literature. We examine how the detector response varies with the free parameters in this model such as the equation of state during the contraction phase and the critical energy density during the bounce phase. We also investigate whether such a signature in the particle detector survives at late times.