Boiling the Vacuum With an X-Ray Free Electron Laser

Ringwald, Andreas

doi:10.1142/9789812702333_0017

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…These conditions are well satisfied at realistic optical as well as X-ray lasers [60,238,239]. The phenomenon of electron-positron pair production in alternating electric fields was studied in Refs.…”

Section: Phenomenology Of Pair Production In Alternating Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…We first briefly discuss the phenomenon of electron-positron pair production at the focus of an X-ray free electron laser, as given in the review articles [60,238,239]. In the early 1970's, the question was raised whether intense laser beams could be used to produce a very strong electric field by focusing the laser beam onto a small spot of size of the laser wavelength λ, so as to possibly study electron-positron pair production in vacuum [240,36].…”

Section: The Breit-wheeler Process In Laser Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Ref. [60,238,239], the critical laser parameters, such as the laser power and focus spot size, are determined in order for achieving an observable effect of pair production in vacuum.…”

Section: The Breit-wheeler Process In Laser Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electron–positron pairs in physics and astrophysics: From heavy nuclei to black holes

Ruffini¹,

Vereshchagin²,

Xue³

2010

Physics Reports

498

305

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Due to the interaction of physics and astrophysics we are witnessing in these years a splendid synthesis of theoretical, experimental and observational results originating from three fundamental physical processes. They were originally proposed by Dirac, by Breit and Wheeler and by Sauter, Heisenberg, Euler and Schwinger. For almost seventy years they have all three been followed by a continued effort of experimental verification on Earth-based experiments. The Dirac process, e + e − → 2γ, has been by far the most successful. It has obtained extremely accurate experimental verification and has led as well to an enormous number of new physics in possibly one of the most fruitful experimental avenues by introduction of storage rings in Frascati and followed by the largest accelerators worldwide: DESY, SLAC etc. The Breit-Wheeler process, 2γ → e + e − , although conceptually simple, being the inverse process of the Dirac one, has been by far one of the most difficult to be verified experimentally. Only recently, through the technology based on free electron X-ray laser and its numerous applications in Earth-based experiments, some first indications of its possible verification have been reached. The vacuum polarization process in strong electromagnetic field, pioneered by Sauter, Heisenberg, Euler and Schwinger, introduced the concept of critical electric field E c = m 2 e c 3 /(e ). It has been searched without success for more than forty years by heavy-ion collisions in many of the leading particle accelerators worldwide.The novel situation today is that these same processes can be studied on a much more grandiose scale during the gravitational collapse leading to the formation of a black hole being observed in Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). This report is dedicated to the scientific race. The theoretical and experimental work developed in Earth-based laboratories is confronted with the theoretical interpretation of space-based observations of phenomena originating on cosmological scales. What has become clear in the last ten years is that all the three above mentioned processes, duly extended in the general relativistic framework, are necessary for the understanding of the physics of the gravitational collapse to a black hole. Vice versa, the natural arena where these processes can be observed in mutual interaction and on an unprecedented scale, is indeed the realm of relativistic astrophysics.We systematically analyze the conceptual developments which have followed the basic work of Dirac and Breit-Wheeler. We also recall how the seminal work of Born and Infeld inspired the work by Sauter, Heisenberg and Euler on effective Lagrangian leading to the estimate of the rate for the process of electron-positron production in 1 a constant electric field. In addition of reviewing the intuitive semi-classical treatment of quantum mechanical tunneling for describing the process of electron-positron production, we recall the calculations in Quantum Electro-Dynamics of the Schwinger rate and effective Lagrangian for cons...

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Section: Phenomenology Of Pair Production In Alternating Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: The Breit-wheeler Process In Laser Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Electron–positron pairs in physics and astrophysics: From heavy nuclei to black holes

Ruffini¹,

Vereshchagin²,

Xue³

2010

Physics Reports

498

305

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Computing the effective action in nontrivial electric field configurations has been a challenging problem due to the vacuum instability; however, it has recently become one of the interesting subjects partly because direct tests of strong QED are possible in terrestrial experiments in the near future 4 and partly because strong QED can be applied to astrophysical objects with strong electromagnetic fields beyond the critical strength.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pair Production Density in Strong Qed

Lee

Yoon

2011

Int. J. Mod. Phys. Conf. Ser.

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The current status of the research on pair production in strong QED is briefly reviewed not only for strong electric fields but also for strong magnetic fields in magnetically dominated astrophysical environment. A particular attention is paid to the spectral production number in the in-and out-state formalism and a possible prescription of the momentum integration is proposed to obtain the production density.

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“…[2]). From an experimental view point, in the near future electromagnetic fields from X-ray free electron lasers from LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source) at SLAC [3] and TESLA (TeV Energy Superconducting Linear Accelerator) at DESY [4] may attain a strength almost comparable to the critical value for electron-positron pair production, which will directly test strong QED [5]. Interestingly, astrophysical sources have been predicted and observed that can have electromagnetic fields greater than the critical strength.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Scalar QED in Inhomogeneous Electromagnetic Fields

Kim

2010

J. Korean Phy. Soc.

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Strong QED has attracted attention recently partly because many astrophysical phenomena have been observed to involve electromagnetic fields beyond the critical strength for electron-positron pair production and partly because terrestrial experiments will generate electromagnetic fields above or near the critical strength in the near future. In this talk we critically review QED phenomena involving strong external electromagnetic fields. Strong QED is characterized by vacuum polarization due to quantum fluctuations and pair production due to the vacuum instability. A canonical method is elaborated for pair production at zero or finite temperature by inhomogeneous electric fields. An algorithm is advanced to calculate pair production rate for electric fields acting for finite periods of time or localized in space or oscillating electric fields. Finally, strong QED is discussed in astrophysics, in particular, strange stars.

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Boiling the Vacuum With an X-Ray Free Electron Laser

Cited by 18 publications

References 25 publications

Electron–positron pairs in physics and astrophysics: From heavy nuclei to black holes

Electron–positron pairs in physics and astrophysics: From heavy nuclei to black holes

Pair Production Density in Strong Qed

Strong Scalar QED in Inhomogeneous Electromagnetic Fields

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