We present a detailed analysis of the self-consistent system of kinetic equations (KEs) describing electron-positron pair production from vacuum under the action of a spatially homogeneous time-dependent electric field of arbitrary polarization. The physical significance of all the basic functions of the kinetic theory is ascertained. It is demonstrated that the total system of the KEs consists of two coupled quasiparticle and spin subsystems with their integrals of motion. A projection method is proposed in order to obtain the KE system in two particular cases: linearly polarized external electric field and (2+1)-dimensional description of quasiparticles in graphene. We also address the energy conservation law taking into account the internal plasma field and describe an alternative rigorous derivation of the KE system.
We consider the one-photon annihilation mechanism in a electron - positron quasiparticle plasma (EPP) created from the vacuum in a strong subcritical laser field due to the dynamical Schwinger mechanism. On the basis of a kinetic theory approach we show that the secondary photons have a radiation spectrum proportional to 1/k (flicker noise). This effect is very small for EPP excitations in the optical spectrum but can reach quite observable values in the gamma - ray region.
The kinetic equation of non - Markovian type for description of the vacuum creation of parton - antiparton pairs under action of a space homogeneous time - dependent chromo - electric field of the arbitrary polarization is obtained on the strict non - pertubative foundation in the framework of the oscillator representation. A comparison of the effectiveness of vacuum creation with the case of linear polarization one is fulfilled.
We consider vacuum polarization effects in the one-photon annihilation channel within a kinetic description of the e+ e- plasma produced from the vacuum in the focal spot of counter-propagating laser beams. This entails essential changes in the structure of the photon kinetic equation. We investigate the domain of large adiabaticity parameters gamma >> 1 where the photon radiation turns out to be very small. A more thorough examination of the domain gamma < 1 needs separate investigation. However, an exploratory study has shown that the one-photon annihilation channel can lead for some domains…
We study particle - antiparticle pair production under action of a strong time dependent space homogeneous electric field at the presence of a collinear constant magnetic field. We derive the kinetic equation for a such field configuration for fermions and bosons in the framework of the Schwinger mechanism of vacuum tunneling. We show the enhancement of pair production for fermions with the increasing of the magnetic field as in the case of the constant electromagnetic field. We have constructed closed set of equations, which can be applied to some actual problems with manifestation of strong …
We consider the vacuum decay by electron-positron pair production in spatially homogeneous, time dependent electric fields by means of quantum kinetic equations. Our focus is on the impact of various pulse shapes as envelopes of oscillating fields and the assistance effects in multi-scale fields, which are also seen in photons accompanying the creation and motion of pairs.
It is shown that the T- and P-odd weak interactions yield to the existence of both electric field and magnetic (directed along the electric field) field around an electric charge. Similarly the assotiated magnetic field is directed along the vector of strength of stationary gravitational field.
The features of vacuum particle creation in an external classical field are studied for simplest external field models in $3 + 1$ dimensional QED. The investigation is based on a kinetic equation that is a nonperturbative consequence of the fundamental equations of motion of QED. The observed features of the evolution of the system apply on the qualitative level also for systems of other nature and therefore are rather general. Examples from cosmology and condensed matter physics illustrate this statement. The common basis for the description of these systems are kinetic equations for vacuum p…
We discuss fermion pair productions in strong electric and magnetic fields. We point out that, in the case of massless fermions, the vacuum persistency probability per unit time and volume is zero in the strong electric and magnetic fields, while it is finite when the magnetic field is absent. The contribution from the lowest Landau level (LLL) dominates this phenomenon. We also discuss dynamics of the vacuum decay, using an effective theory of the LLL projection, taking into account the back reaction.
In the present work a closed system of kinetic equations is obtained for the description of the vacuum creation of an electron - positron plasma and secondary photons due to a strong laser field. An estimate for the photon energy distribution is obtained. In the Markovian approximation the photon distribution has a 1/k spectrum (flicker noise).
We have considered the structure of the fundamental symmetry violating part of the photon refractive index in vacuum in the presence of constant electric and magnetic fields. This part of the refractive index can, in principle, contain CPT symmetry breaking terms. Some of the terms violate Lorentz invariance, whereas the others violate locality and causality. Estimates of these effects, using laser experiments are considered.
We consider -- within QED(2) -- the backreaction to the Schwinger pair creation in a time dependent, spatially homogeneous electric field. Our focus is the depletion of the external field as a quench and the subsequent long-term evolution of the resulting electric field. Our numerical solutions of the self consistent, fully backreacted dynamical equations exhibit a self-sustaining oscillation of both the electric field and the pair number depending on the coupling strength.
We discuss the possibility of a laboratory search for light minicharged particles carrying electric charge that is a small fraction $ε$ of that of electron. We point out that the production of pairs of such particles in an electric field would result in a measurable discharge in vacuum of electrically charged objects. A realistic experiment may be sensitive to such particles at least down to $ε\sim 10^{-8}$ if their mass is below $\sim 10^{-4}$eV.
We investigate the quantum kinetic approach to pair production from vacuum by time-dependent electric field. Equivalence between this approach and the more familiar S-matrix approach is explicitly established for both scalar and fermion cases. For the particular case of a constant electric field exact solution for kinetic equations is provided and the accuracy of low-density approximation is estimated.
In the present work a closed system of kinetic equations is obtained from the truncation of the BBGKY hierarchy for the description of the vacuum creation of an electron - positron plasma and secondary photons due to a strong laser field. This truncation is performed in the Markovian approximation for the one-photon annihilation channel which is accessible due to the presence of the strong external field. Estimates of the photon production rate are obtained for different domains of laser field parameters (frequency nu and field strength E). A huge quantity of optical photons of the quasiclassi…
Within the theory of vacuum creation of an $e^{+}e^{-}$ - plasma in the strong electric fields acting in the focal spot of counter-propagating laser beams we compare predictions on the basis of different WKB-type approximations with results obtained in the framework of a strict kinetic approach. Such a comparison demonstrates a considerable divergence results. We analyse some reasoning for this observation and conclude that WKB-type approximations have an insufficient foundation for QED in strong nonstationary fields. The results obtained in this work on the basis of the kinetic approach are m…
We study quark-pair creations in strong color electromagnetic fields. We point out that, for massless quarks, the vacuum persistency probability per unit space-time volume is zero, i.e., the quark-pair creation rate w is infinite, in general homogeneous color electromagnetic fields, while it is finite when the color magnetic field is absent. We find that the contribution from the lowest Landau level (LLL) dominates this phenomenon. With an effective theory of the LLL projection, we also discuss dynamics of the vacuum decay, taking into account the back reaction of pair creations.
The matrix, 8-component Dirac-like form of P-odd equations for boson fields of spins 1 and 0 are obtained and the GL(2,c) symmetry group of equations is derived. We found exact solutions of the field equation for vector particles with arbitrary electric and magnetic moments in external constant and uniform electromagnetic fields. The differential probability of pair production of vector particles with the EDM and AMM by an external constant and uniform electromagnetic field has been found using the exact solutions. We have calculated the imaginary and real parts of the electromagnetic field La…
We study the electric conductivity of the vacuum of quenched SU(2) lattice gauge theory induced by the magnetic field B as a function of the bare quark mass m. The conductivity grows as the quark mass decreases. Simplest power-like fit indicates that the conductivity behaves as B/sqrt(m). We discuss the implications of this result for dilepton angular distributions in heavy ion collisions.
We discuss spontaneous spin current generation from the vacuum by strong electric fields as a result of interplay between the Schwinger mechanism and a spin-orbit coupling. By considering a homogeneous slow strong electric field superimposed by a fast weak transverse electric field, we explicitly evaluate the vacuum expectation value of a spin current (the Bargmann-Wigner spin current) by numerically solving the Dirac equation. We show that a non-vanishing spin current polarized in the direction perpendicular to the electric fields flows mostly in the longitudinal direction. We also find that …
The non-perturbative electron-positron pair production (Schwinger effect) is considered for space- and time-dependent electric fields $\vec{E}(\vec{x},t)$. Based on the Dirac-Heisenberg-Wigner (DHW), formalism we derive a system of partial differential equations of infinite order for the sixteen irreducible components of the Wigner function. In the limit of spatially homogeneous fields the Vlasov equation of quantum kinetic theory (QKT) is rediscovered. It is shown that the quantum kinetic formalism can be exactly solved in the case of a constant electric field $E(t)=E_0$ and the Sauter-type e…
Vacuum structure and related phenomenological features are investigated in $μ$-problem solvable supersymmetric extra U(1) models. We present a framework for the analysis of their vacuum structure taking account of an abelian gauge kinetic term mixing, which can potentially modify a scalar potential and $Z^0$ gauge interactions. Applying this to data of the precise measurements at LEP, we constrain an allowed region in a space of Higgs vacuum expectation values based on consistency with potential minimum conditions. We find that such a region is confined into rather restricted one. Bounds on ma…
Quantum fluctuations in the QED vacuum generate non-linear effects, such as peculiar induced electromagnetic fields. In particular, we show here that an electrically neutral particle, possessing a magnetic dipole moment, develops an induced electric dipole-type moment with unusual angular dependence, when immersed in a quasistatic, constant external electric field. The calculation of this effect is done in the framework of the Euler-Heisenberg effective QED Lagrangian, corresponding to the weak field asymptotic expansion of the effective action to one-loop order. It is argued that the neutron …
We compute the electric conductivity of quark matter at finite temperature $T$ and quark chemical potential $μ$ under a magnetic field $B$ beyond the Lowest Landau level approximation. The electric conductivity transverse to $B$ is dominated by the Hall conductivity $σ_H$. For the longitudinal conductivity $σ_\parallel$, we need to solve kinetic equations. Then, we numerically find that $σ_\parallel$ has only mild dependence on $μ$ and the quark mass $m_q$. Moreover, $σ_\parallel$ first decreases and then linearly increases as a function of $B$, leading to an intermediate $B$ region which look…
The Lancaster experiments with a cylindrical wire moving in superfluid 3He-B are discussed, where the measured critical velocity of pair creation is much below the Landau critical velocity. The phenomenon is shown to be analogous to the instability of the electron-positron vacuum in an adiabatically alternating strong electric potential of both signs, where the positive- and negative-root levels cross and thus the instability treshold is twice less than in the conventional case of a single static potential well.
We analyze vacuum instability of strongly coupled gauge theories in a constant electric field using AdS/CFT correspondence. The model is the N=2 1-flavor supersymmetric large N_c QCD in the strong 't Hooft coupling limit. We calculate the Euler-Heisenberg effective Lagrangian L(E), which encodes the nonlinear response and the quantum decay rate of the vacuum in a background electric field E, from the complex D-brane action in AdS/CFT. We find that the decay rate given by Im L(E) becomes nonzero above a critical electric field set by the confining force between quarks. A large-E expansion of Im…
A charged superconductiong cosmic string produces an extremely large electric field in its vicinity. This leads to vacuum instability and to the formation of a charged vacuum condensate which screens the electric charge of the string. We analyze the structure of this condensate using the Thomas-Fermi method.
In the simple model of a massive vector field in flat space-time, we derive a kinetic equation of non-Markovian type, describing the vacuum pair creation under the action of external fields of different nature. We use for this aim the non-perturbative methods of kinetic theory in combination with a new element when the transition of the instantaneous quasiparticle representation is realized within the oscillator (holomorphic) representation. We study in detail the process of vacuum creation of vector bosons generated by a time-dependent boson mass in accordance with a conformal-invariant scala…
We demonstrate that the QCD sum rule method can be successfully applied to the calculation of CP-odd electromagnetic observables induced by a vacuum theta--angle. We implement the approach in calculating the electric dipole moment of the rho meson to ~30% precision, and find that the result can also be explicitly related to the vacuum topological susceptibility.
We investigate the role played by the fermionic determinant in the evaluation of the CP-violating neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) adopting the Instanton Liquid Model. Significant differences between quenched and unquenched calculations are found. In the case of unquenched simulations the neutron EDM decreases linearly with the quark mass and is expected to vanish in the chiral limit. On the contrary, within the quenched approximation, the neutron EDM increases as the quark mass decreases and is expected to diverge as (1/m)**Nf in the chiral limit. We argue that such a qualitatively differ…
We study the vacuum pair production by a time-dependent strong electric field based on the exact WKB analysis. We identify the generic structure of a Stokes graph for systems with the vacuum pair production and show that the number of produced pairs is given by a product of connection matrices for Stokes segments connecting pairs of turning points. We derive an explicit formula for the number of produced pairs, assuming the semi-classical limit. The obtained formula can be understood as a generalization of the divergent asymptotic series method by Berry, and is consistent with other semi-class…
Photon emission due to vacuum instability under the action of a quasi-constant electric field
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University（西交利物浦大学）；Saint-Petersburg state forest technical university（圣彼得堡国立林业技术大学）；ITMO University（ITMO大学）；P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute（列别捷夫物理研究所）；University of São Paulo（圣保罗大学）
Instability of electron-positron vacuum in strong electric fields is studied. First, falling to the Coulomb center is discussed at $Z>137/2$ for a spinless boson and at $Z>137$ for electron. Then, focus is concentrated on description of deep electron levels and spontaneous positron production in the field of a finite-size nucleus with the charge $Z>Z_{\rm cr}\simeq 170$. Next, these effects are studied in application to the low-energy heavy-ion collisions. Then, we consider phenomenon of "electron condensation" on levels of upper continuum crossed the boundary of the lower continuum $ε=-m$ in …
A charged parallel plate capacitor will create particle-antiparticle pairs by the Schwinger process and discharge over time. We consider the full quantum discharge process in 1+1 dimensions including backreaction, when the electric field interacts with massless charged fermions. We recover oscillatory features in the electric field observed in a semiclassical analysis and find that the amplitude of the oscillations falls off as t^{-1/2} and that stronger coupling implies slower decay. Remarkably, Ohm's law applies to the vacuum and we evaluate the quantum electrical conductivity of the vacuum …
In a background of a very strong magnetic field a quantum vacuum may turn into a new phase characterized by anisotropic electromagnetic superconductivity. The phase transition should take place at a critical magnetic field of the hadronic strength (B_c \approx 10^{16} Tesla or eB_c \approx 0.6 GeV^2). The transition occurs due to an interplay between electromagnetic and strong interactions: virtual quark-antiquark pairs popup from the vacuum and create -- due to the presence of the intense magnetic field -- electrically charged and electrically neutral spin-one condensates with quantum numbers…
The possibility of electron-positron pair creation by an electric field is studied by using only those methods in field theory the predictions of which are confirmed experimentally. These methods include the perturbative method of quantum electrodynamics and the bases of classical electrodynamics. Such an approach includes the back reaction. It is found that the vacuum is always stable, in the sense that pair creation, if occurs, cannot be interpreted as a decay of the vacuum, but rather as a decay of the source of the electric field or as a process similar to bremsstrahlung. It is also found …
Using the kinetic approach, we study the impact of the charged particles dynamics due to the Schwinger effect on the electric field evolution during inflation. As a simple model of the electric field generation, we consider the kinetic coupling of the electromagnetic field to the inflaton via the term $f^{2}(ϕ)F_{μν}F^{μν}$ with the Ratra coupling function $f=\exp(βϕ/M_{p})$. The production of charged particles is taken into account in the Boltzmann kinetic equation through the Schwinger source term. Produced particles are thermalized due to collisions which we model by using the collision int…
Sequences of alternating-sign time-dependent electric field pulses lead to coherent interference effects in Schwinger vacuum pair production, producing a Ramsey interferometer, an all-optical time-domain realization of the multiple-slit interference effect, directly from the quantum vacuum. The interference, obeying fermionic quantum statistics, is manifest in the momentum dependence of the number of produced electrons and positrons along the linearly polarized electric field. The central value grows like $N^2$ for $N$ pulses [i.e., $N$ "slits"], and the functional form is well-described by a …
