Vacuum quantum effects in non-inertial frames and in gravitational fields

Vacuum quantum effects induced by topology and boundaries will be studied in non-inertial frames and in the presence of gravitational fields. As background geometries we will consider toroidally compactified Rindler space-time, anti-de Sitter space-time with branes orthogonal to its boundary, and Friedman-Robertson-Walker cosmological models with compact subspace. As physical characteristics of the vacuum, the expectation values of the field squared, of the energy-momentum tensors, and the current densities for charged fields will be discussed. Applications will be given in black hole physics, in brane-worlds with extra dimensions, and in cosmological models.