Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Pair Creation Rates For One-Dimensional Fermionic And Bosonic Vacua, T Cheng, M R. Ware, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Pair Creation Rates For One-Dimensional Fermionic And Bosonic Vacua, T Cheng, M R. Ware, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Faculty publications – Physics
We compare the creation rates for particle-antiparticle pairs produced by a supercritical force field for fermionic and bosonic model systems. The rates obtained from the Dirac and Klein-Gordon equations can be computed directly from the quantum-mechanical transmission coefficients describing the scattering of an incoming particle with the supercritical potential barrier. We provide a unified framework that shows that the bosonic rates can exceed the fermionic ones, as one could expect from the Pauli-exclusion principle for the fermion system. This imbalance for small but supercritical forces is associated with the occurrence of negative bosonic transmission coefficients of arbitrary size for the …
Creation Of Multiple Electron-Positron Pairs In Arbitrary Fields, T Cheng, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Creation Of Multiple Electron-Positron Pairs In Arbitrary Fields, T Cheng, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Faculty publications – Physics
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 nonperturbative framework that permits 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 ratelike 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.
Timing Of Pair Production In Time-Dependent Force Fields, Christopher C. Gerry, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Timing Of Pair Production In Time-Dependent Force Fields, Christopher C. Gerry, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Faculty publications – Physics
We examine the creation and annihilation dynamics for electron-positron pairs in a time-dependent but subcritical electric force using a simplified model system. Numerical and semianalytical solutions to computational quantum field theory show that despite the continuity of the quantum field operator in time, the actual number of created particles can change in a discontinuous way if the field changes abruptly. The number of permanently created particles after the pulse, however, increases continuously with the duration of the electric field pulse, suggesting a transition from an exclusive annihilation to a creation regime.
Interpretational Difficulties In Quantum Field Theory, P Krekora, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Interpretational Difficulties In Quantum Field Theory, P Krekora, Q Su, Rainer Grobe
Faculty publications – Physics
Based on space-time-resolved solutions to relativistic quantum field theory we illustrate interpretational difficulties in associating field-theoretical quantities with properties of particles. These difficulties are related to the fact that the definition of the spatial probability density of particles depends on the choice of the Hilbert subspace on which the field operator is projected. We illustrate these problems by analyzing pair-production probabilities and spatial densities for the electron-positron dynamics associated with a spatially localized subcritical potential that is turned on and off in time.