Wavepacket detection with the Unruh-DeWitt model

Abstract: In this paper we deal with several issues regarding the localization properties of the Unruh-DeWitt (UdW) detector model. Since its original formulation as a pointlike detector, the UdW model has been used to study extensively the physics of quantum fields in presence of accelerations or curved backgrounds. Natural extensions of it have tried to take into account the spatial profile of such detectors, but all of them have met a series of problems in their spectral response which render them useless to study some of the most interesting physical scenarios. In this paper we provide a derivation of the smeared UdW interaction from QED first principles, then we analyze the spectral response of spatially smeared UdW detectors, and discuss the kind of spatial profiles which are useful for the study of relevant cases.