Work distribution of quantum fields in static curved spacetimes

Abstract

We investigate the formulation of work distributions for quantum scalar fields in static curved spacetimes by extending the Ramsey interferometric protocol originally developed in previous works for flat spacetimes. The use of Unruh-DeWitt particle detectors provides a causally consistent framework to define and measure work statistics, avoiding the limitations of the two-time projective measurement scheme in relativistic quantum field theory. We derive a nonperturbative expression for the characteristic function of the quantum field and apply it to thermal Kubo-Martin-Schwinger states, showing that the resulting work distributions satisfy both the Crooks fluctuation theorem and the Jarzynski equality. Furthermore, we analyze the case of a pointlike detector, obtaining compact expressions for the first two moments of the work distribution, allowing us to recover the standard fluctuation-dissipation relation in the high-temperature limit. Our results demonstrate that fluctuation theorems hold for quantum fields interacting with Unruh-DeWitt particle detectors in static curved spacetimes.