Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 32: Interaction with strong or short laser pulses III

A 32.7: Talk

Thursday, March 26, 2015, 16:15–16:30, C/HSW

The tunneling picture of electron-positron pair creation — Anton Wöllert, Michael Klaiber, •Heiko Bauke, and Christoph H. Keitel — Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

The common tunneling picture of electron-positron pair creation in a strong electric field is generalized to pair creation in combined crossed electric and magnetic fields [1]. This new picture is formulated in a gauge invariant and Lorentz invariant manner for quasistatic fields. It may be used to infer qualitative features of the pair creation process. In particular, it allows for an intuitive interpretation of how the presence of a magnetic field modifies and in particular cases even enhances pair creation. The enhanced picture makes it easy to understand how an energetic photon, which may assist the creation of electrons and positrons from the vacuum, modifies pair creation by lowering the potential barrier but also increasing the relativistic mass of the created particles.

=4pt =-2pt [1]

A. Wöllert, M. Klaiber, H. Bauke, C. H. Keitel, “The tunneling picture of electron-positron pair creation”, arXiv:1410.2401