Does Unruh radiation accelerate the universe? A novel approach to the cosmic acceleration

We present a novel mechanism for the present acceleration of the universe. We find that the temperature of the Unruh radiation perceived by the brane is not equal to the inherent temperature (Hawking temperature at the apparent horizon) of the brane universe in the frame of Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) braneworld model. The Unruh radiation perceived by a dust dominated brane is always warmer than the brane measured by the geometric temperature, which naturally induces an energy flow between bulk and brane based oil the most sound thermodynamics principles. Through a thorough investigation to the microscopic mechanism of interaction between bulk Unruh radiation and brane matter, we put forward that an energy influx from bulk Unruh radiation to the dust matter on the brane accelerates the universe. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.