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A quantum-optics approach is used to study the nature of the acceleration radiation due to a random atomic cloud falling freely into a generalized Schwarzschild black hole through a Boulware vacuum. The properties of this horizon brightened acceleration radiation (HBAR) are analyzed with a master equation that is fully developed in a multimode format. A scheme for the coarse-graining average for an atomic cloud is considered, with emphasis on the random injection scenario, which is shown to generate a thermal state. The role played by conformal quantum mechanics (CQM) is shown to be critical for detailed balance via a Boltzmann factor governed by the near-horizon physics, with the unique selection of the Hawking temperature. The HBAR thermal state is the basis for a thermodynamic framework that parallels black hole thermodynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermodynamics of "horizon brightened acceleration radiation" (HBAR), due to a random atomic cloud freely falling into a black hole in a Boulware-like vacuum, is shown to mimic the thermodynamics of the black hole itself. The thermodynamic framework is developed in its most general form via a quantum-optics master equation, including rotating (Kerr) black holes and for any set of initial conditions of the atomic cloud. The HBAR field exhibits thermal behavior at the Hawking temperature and an area-entropy-flux relation that resembles the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. In addition, this general approach reveals: (i) the existence of an HBAR-black-hole thermodynamic correspondence that explains the HBAR area-entropy-flux relation; (ii) the origin of the field entropy from the near-horizon behavior, via conformal quantum mechanics (CQM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-level atom freely falling towards a Schwarzschild black hole was recently shown to detect radiation in the Boulware vacuum in an insightful paper [M. O. Scully et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115, 8131 (2018)]. The two-state atom acts as a dipole detector and its interaction with the field can be modeled using a quantum optics approach. The relative acceleration between the scalar field and the detector causes the atom to detect the radiation. In this paper, we show that this acceleration radiation is driven by the near-horizon physics of the black hole. This insight reinforces the relevance of near-horizon conformal quantum mechanics for all the physics associated with the thermodynamic properties of the black hole. We additionally highlight the conformal aspects of the radiation that is given by a Planck distribution with the Hawking temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]