https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430103004
Pair creation in electric fields
Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Avenida Francisco J. Mújica, 58060 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
* e-mail: christianschubert137@gmail.com
Published online: 7 August 2024
Sauter-Schwinger pair creation in electromagnetic fields is a fundamental prediction of QED and one of the motivations for the present efforts in constructing super-strong lasers. I will give a historical review of the subject, and then focus on two recent developments. The first one is the worldline instanton formalism, a sophisticated version of the WKB approximation that makes it possible to calculate the pair creation rate for complicated field configurations. The second one is an adaptation of the Dirac-Heisenberg-Wigner formalism suitable for a detailed study of the formation of real particles in time and space.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
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