2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/188128We show that the Sokolov--Ternov effect -- the depolarization of particles in storage rings coming from synchrotron radiation due to spin flip transitions -- is physically equivalent to the Unruh effect for circular acceleration if one uses a spin 1/2 particle as the Unruh--DeWitt detector. It is shown that for the electron, with gyromagnetic number $g \approx 2$, the exponential contribution to the polarization, which usually characterizes the Unruh effect, is "hidden" in the standard Sokolov-Ternov effect making it hard to observe. Thus, our conclusions are different in detail from previous work.23 pages, no figuresHigh Energy Physics - PhenomenologyGeneral Relativity and Quantum CosmologyHigh Energy Physics - TheoryAccelerator Physicstext