Computational approach to pair-creation processes

ORAL

Abstract

We examine the spontaneous breakdown of the matter vacuum triggered by an external force of arbitrary strength and spatial and temporal variations. We derive a non-perturbative framework that permits for the first time the computation of the complete time evolution of various multiple electron-positron pair probabilities. These time-dependent probabilities can be computed from a generating function as well as from solutions to a set of rate-like equations with coupling constants determined by the single-particle solutions to the time-dependent Dirac equation. This approach might be of relevance to the planned experiments to observe for the first time the laser-induced breakdown process of the vacuum.

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Authors

  • Q. Su

    Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit, Illinois State University

  • Michael Turner

    Illinois Institute of Technology, Bettendorf High School, Bettendorf, IA, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, Bettendorf, IA, Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA, Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Mikrostrukturphysik, Halle, Germany, CNRS, Universite Lyon I, France, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany, University of Jyvaskila, Finaland, Iowa State University/Ames Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University, Indiana University, Illinois State University, University of Iowa, Louisiana State University, University of Warwick, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Coe College, University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory, University of Illinois, Ames Laboratory, University of Florida, Tulane University, The Department of Physics and The James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, Department of Physics, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD 57197, Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit, Illinois State University, Argonne National Laboratory, Dr, Drake University, Physics Department, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Physics Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA, NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy, University of New Hampshire Department of Physics, University of Chicago

  • Michael Turner

    Illinois Institute of Technology, Bettendorf High School, Bettendorf, IA, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, Bettendorf, IA, Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA, Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Mikrostrukturphysik, Halle, Germany, CNRS, Universite Lyon I, France, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany, University of Jyvaskila, Finaland, Iowa State University/Ames Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University, Indiana University, Illinois State University, University of Iowa, Louisiana State University, University of Warwick, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Coe College, University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory, University of Illinois, Ames Laboratory, University of Florida, Tulane University, The Department of Physics and The James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, Department of Physics, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD 57197, Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit, Illinois State University, Argonne National Laboratory, Dr, Drake University, Physics Department, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Physics Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA, NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy, University of New Hampshire Department of Physics, University of Chicago

  • R. Grobe

    Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit, Illinois State University