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arXiv · 1602.08310

Low-dimensional approach to pair production in an oscillating electric field: Application to bandgap graphene layers

Abstract

The production of particle-antiparticle pairs from the quantum field theoretic ground state in the presence of an external electric field is studied. Starting with the quantum kinetic Boltzmann-Vlasov equation in four-dimensional spacetime, we obtain the corresponding equations in lower dimensionalities by way of spatial compactification. Our outcomes in $2+1$-dimensions are applied to bandgap graphene layers, where the charge carriers have the particular property of behaving like light massive Dirac fermions. We calculate the single-particle distribution function for the case of an electric field oscillating in time and show that the creation of particle-hole pairs in this condensed matter system closely resembles electron-positron pair production by the Schwinger effect.

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Ibrahim Akal, Reinhold Egger, Carsten Müller, Selym Villalba-Chávez. 2016-02-26. Low-dimensional approach to pair production in an oscillating electric field: Application to bandgap graphene layers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.93.116006

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