Electron-Positron Pair Production in Space- or Time-Dependent Electric Fields

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dc.creatorKleinert, Hagen
dc.creatorRuffini, Remo
dc.creatorXue, She-Sheng
dc.date2008-07-06
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T12:14:55Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T12:14:55Z
dc.descriptionTreating the production of electron and positron pairs by a strong electric field from the vacuum as a quantum tunneling process we derive, in semiclassical approximation, a general expression for the pair production rate in a $z$-dependent electric field $E(z)$ pointing in the $z$-direction. We also allow for a smoothly varying magnetic field parallel to $E(z)$. The result is applied to a confined field $E(z)\not=0$ for $|z|\lesssim \ell $, a semi-confined field $E(z)\not=0$ for $ z\gtrsim 0 $, and a linearly increasing field $E(z)\sim z$. The boundary effects of the confined fields on pair-production rates are exhibited. A simple variable change in all formulas leads to results for electric fields depending on time rather than space. In addition, we discuss tunneling processes in which empty atomic bound states are spontaneously filled by negative-energy electrons from the vacuum under positron emission. In particular, we calculate the rate at which the atomic levels of a bare nucleus of finite size $r_{\rm n}$ and large $Z\gg 1$ are filled by spontaneous pair creation.
dc.description33 pages and 9 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. D
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0807.0909
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0807.0909
dc.identifierPhys.Rev.D78:025011,2008
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevD.78.025011
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/211358
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Theory
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Phenomenology
dc.titleElectron-Positron Pair Production in Space- or Time-Dependent Electric Fields
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