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arXiv · 1907.06438

Signatures of the Schwinger mechanism assisted by a fast-oscillating electric field

Abstract

The spontaneous production of electron-positron pairs from the vacuum--in a field configuration composed of a high-frequency electric mode of weak intensity and a strong constant electric field--is investigated. Asymptotic expressions for the single-particle distribution function ruling this nonperturbative process are established by considering the low-density approximation in the Boltzmann-Vlasov equation. An analytical formula for the density rate of yielded particles is established which is shown to manifest a nonperturbative dependence on both the strong and weak electric fields and to interpolate between the tunneling and multi-photon regimes. It is shown that--under appropriate circumstances--the produced plasma of electrons and positrons might reach densities for which their recombinations into high-energy photons occurs copiously. On the basis of this feature, an experimental setup for observing the dynamically-assisted Schwinger effect is put forward.

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Selym Villalba-Chávez, Carsten Müller. 2019-07-15. Signatures of the Schwinger mechanism assisted by a fast-oscillating electric field. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.100.116018

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