Pair Production Rate Research Articles

Axial Ward Identity and the Schwinger Mechanism: Applications to the Real-Time Chiral Magnetic Effect and Condensates.

We elucidate chirality production under parity breaking constant electromagnetic fields, with which we clarify qualitative differences in and out of equilibrium. For a strong magnetic field the pair production from the Schwinger mechanism increments the chirality. The pair production rate is exponentially suppressed with mass according to the Schwinger formula, while the mass dependence of chirality production in the axial Ward identity appears in the pseudoscalar term only. We demonstrate that, in a real-time formulation with in and out states, the axial Ward identity with an in-in expectation value leads to a chirality production rate consistent with the Schwinger formula, while the axial anomaly with an in-out expectation value is canceled by the pseudoscalar condensate for any mass. We illuminate that such an in- and out-state formulation clarifies subtleties in the chiral magnetic effect in and out of equilibrium, and we discuss further applications to real-time condensates.

Two new submodels for the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy): New Aerosol Nucleation (NAN) and small ions (IONS) version 1.0

Abstract. Two new submodels for the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) were developed. The New Aerosol Nucleation (NAN) submodel includes new parameterisations of aerosol particle formation rates published in recent years. These parameterisations include ion-induced nucleation and nucleation of pure organic species. NAN calculates the rate of new particle formation based on the aforementioned parameterisations for aerosol submodels in the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model. The ion pair production rate, needed to calculate the ion-induced or ion-mediated nucleation, is described using the new submodel IONS, which provides ion pair production rates for other submodels within the MESSy framework. Both new submodels were tested in EMAC simulations. These simulations showed good agreement with ground-based observations.

A possible signature of extra-dimensions: The enhanced open string pair production

In analogy to the Schwinger pair production in QED, there exists also the so-called open string pair production for a system of two Dp branes, placed parallel at a separation, with at least one brane carrying a worldvolume electric flux, in Type II string theories. There is however no such pair production if an isolated Dp brane carrying an electric flux is considered. The produced open strings are directly related to the brane separation, therefore to the extra-dimensions if taken from the viewpoint of a brane observer. This pair production can be greatly enhanced if one Dp brane carries also a magnetic flux. The largest pair production rate occurs for p=3, i.e., the D3 brane system, with the same applied fluxes. A detection of this pair production by the brane observer as the charged particle/anti-charged particle pair one may signal the existence of extra-dimensions and therefore provides a potential means to test the underlying string theories.

Schwinger Pair Production via Polons and the Origin of Stokes Phenomena

Schwinger pair production of electrons and positrons in a strong electric field is a prediction of nonperturbative quantum field theory, in which the out-vacuum is superposed of multi-particle states of the in-vacuum. Solving the Dirac or Klein-Gordon equation in the background field, though a linear wave equation, and finding the pair-production rate is a difficult or nontrivial job. The phase-integral method has recently been introduced to compute the pair production in space-dependent electric fields, and a complex analysis method has been employed to calculate the pair production in time-dependent electric fields. In this paper, we apply the complex analysis method to a Sauter-type electric field and other hyperbolic-type electric fields that vanish in the past and future and show that the Stokes phenomena in pair production occur when the time-dependent frequency for a given momentum has finite simple poles (polons) with pure imaginary residues.

Finite temperature Schwinger pair production in coexistent electric and magnetic fields

We compute Schwinger pair production rates at finite temperature, in the presence of homogeneous, concurrent electric and magnetic fields. Expressions are obtained using the semiclassical worldline instanton formalism, to leading order, for spin-$0$ and spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles. The derived results are valid for weak coupling and fields. We thereby extend previous seminal results in the literature, to coexistent electric and magnetic fields, and fermions.

Discrete worldline instantons

The semiclassical approximation of the worldline path integral is a powerful tool to study nonperturbative electron-positron pair creation in spacetime-dependent background fields. Finding solutions of the classical equations of motion, i.e., worldline instantons, is possible analytically only in special cases, and a numerical treatment is nontrivial as well. We introduce a completely general numerical approach based on an approximate evaluation of the discretized path integral that easily and robustly gives the full semiclassical pair production rate in nontrivial multidimensional fields, and apply it to some example cases.

Worldline sphaleron for thermal Schwinger pair production

With increasing temperatures, Schwinger pair production changes from a quantum tunnelling to a classical, thermal process, determined by a worldline sphaleron. We show this and calculate the corresponding rate of pair production for both spinor and scalar quantum electrodynamics, including the semiclassical prefactor. For electron-positron pair production from a thermal bath of photons and in the presence of an electric field, the rate we derive is faster than both perturbative photon fusion and the zero temperature Schwinger process. We work to all-orders in the coupling and hence our results are also relevant to the pair production of (strongly coupled) magnetic monopoles in heavy ion collisions.

Schwinger pair production at nonzero temperatures or in compact directions

Electric fields may decay by quantum tunneling: as calculated by Schwinger, an electron-positron pair may be summoned from the vacuum. In this paper I calculate the pair-production rate at nonzero temperatures. I find that at high temperatures the decay rate is dominated by a new instanton that involves both thermal fluctuation and quantum tunneling; this decay is exponentially faster than the rate in the literature. I also calculate the decay rate when the electric field wraps a compact circle (at zero temperature). The same new instanton also governs this rate: I find that for small circles decay is dominated by a process that drops the electric field by one unit, but does not produce charged particles.

Cornering sgluons with four-top-quark events

The existence of colour-octet scalar states, often dubbed sgluons, is predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, such as supersymmetric realisations featuring Dirac gauginos. Such states have a large pair-production rate at hadron colliders and mainly decay into pairs of jets and top quarks. Consequently, they represent a primary target for experimental searches for new resonances in the multijet and multitop channels at the Large Hadron Collider. Adopting a phenomenologically-motivated simplified model, we reinterpret the results of a recent experimental search for the four-top-quark Standard Model signal, from which we constrain the sgluon mass to be larger than about 1.06 TeV. We additionally consider how modifications of the existing four-top-quark studies could enhance our ability to unravel the presence of scalar octets in data.

Magnifying the ATLAS stealth stop splinter: impact of spin correlations and finite widths

In this paper, we recast a “stealth stop” search in the notoriously difficult region of the stop-neutralino Simplified Model parameter space for which mleft({tilde{t}}_1right)-mleft({tilde{upchi}}_1^0right)simeq {m}_t . The properties of the final state are nearly identical for tops and stops, while the rate for stop pair production is mathcal{O} (10%) of that for toverline{t} . Stop searches away from this stealth region have left behind a “splinter” of open parameter space when mleft({tilde{t}}_1right)simeq {m}_t . Removing this splinter requires surgical precision: the ATLAS constraint on stop pair production reinterpreted here treats the signal as a contaminant to the measurement of the top pair production cross section using data from sqrt{s}=7 TeV and 8 TeV in a correlated way to control for some systematic errors. ATLAS fixed mleft({tilde{t}}_1right)simeq {m}_tkern0.5em andkern0.5em mleft({tilde{upchi}}_1^0right)=1 GeV, implying that a careful recasting of these results into the full mleft({tilde{t}}_1right)-mleft({tilde{upchi}}_1^0right) plane is warranted. We find that the parameter space with mleft({tilde{upchi}}_1^0right)lesssim 55 GeV is excluded for mleft({tilde{t}}_1right)simeq {m}_t — although this search does cover new parameter space, it is unable to fully pull the splinter. Along the way, we review a variety of interesting physical issues in detail: (i) when the two-body width is a good approximation; (ii) how assuming the narrow width approximation affects the total rate; (iii ) how the production rate is affected when the wrong widths are used; (iv ) what role propagating the spin correlations consistently through the multi-body decay chain plays in the limits. In addition, we provide a guide to using MadGraph for implementing the full production including finite width and spin correlation effects, and we survey a variety of pitfalls one might encounter.

Schwinger mechanism in the SU(3) Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model with an electric field

In this work we study the electrized quark matter under finite temperature and density conditions in the context of the SU(2) and SU(3) Nambu--Jona-Lasinio models. To this end, we evaluate the effective quark masses and the Schwinger quark-antiquark pair production rate. For the SU(3) NJL model we incorporate in the Lagrangian the 't Hooft determinant and we present a set of analytical expressions more convenient for numerical evaluations. We predict a decrease of the pseudocritical electric field with the increase of the temperature for both models and a more prominent production rate for the SU(3) model when compared to the SU(2).

Scalar pair production in a magnetic field in de Sitter universe

The production of scalar particles by the dipole magnetic field in de Sitter expanding universe is analyzed. The amplitude and probability of transition are computed using perturbative methods. A graphical study of the transition probability is performed obtaining that the rate of pair production is important in the early universe. Our results prove that in the process of pair production by the external magnetic field the momentum conservation law is broken. We also found that the probabilities are maximum when the particles are emitted perpendicular to the direction of magnetic dipole momentum. The total probability is computed and is analysed in terms of the angle between particles momenta.

On Electron–Positron Pair Production by a Spatially Inhomogeneous Electric Field

A detailed analysis of electron–positron pair creation induced by a spatially non-uniform and static electric field from vacuum is presented. A typical example is provided by the Sauter potential. For this potential, we derive the analytic expressions for vacuum decay and pair production rate accounted for the entire range of spatial variations. In the limit of a sharp step, we recover the divergent result due to the singular electric field at the origin. The limit of a constant field reproduces the classical result of Euler, Heisenberg and Schwinger, if the latter is properly averaged over the width of a spatial variation. The pair production by the Sauter potential is described for different regimes from weak to strong fields. For all these regimes, the locally constant-field rate is shown to be the upper limit.

Anisotropy of Thermal Dileptons

The meaningful specific anisotropy in the angle distribution of leptons with respect to the three-momentum of pair is predicted as a feasibility signature of synchrotron-like mechanism resulting from the quarks interacting with a collective confining color field in the heavy ion collisions. The lepton pair production rate and the spectrum of pair invariant mass are presented for this new dilepton source that is apparently not taken into consideration in the available phenomenological estimates.

Euclidean mirrors: enhanced vacuum decay from reflected instantons

We study the tunnelling of virtual matter–antimatter pairs from the quantum vacuum in the presence of a spatially uniform, time-dependent electric background composed of a strong, slow field superimposed with a weak, rapid field. After analytic continuation to Euclidean spacetime, we obtain from the instanton equations two critical points. While one of them is the closing point of the instanton path, the other serves as an Euclidean mirror which reflects and squeezes the instanton. It is this reflection and shrinking which is responsible for an enormous enhancement of the vacuum pair production rate. We discuss how important features of two different mechanisms can be analysed and understood via such a rotation in the complex plane. (a) Consistent with previous studies, we first discuss the standard assisted mechanism with a static strong field and certain weak fields with a distinct pole structure in order to show that the reflection takes place exactly at the poles. We also discuss the effect of possible sub-cycle structures. We extend this reflection picture then to weak fields which have no poles present and illustrate the effective reflections with explicit examples. An additional field strength dependence for the rate occurs in such cases. We analytically compute the characteristic threshold for the assisted mechanism given by the critical combined Keldysh parameter. We discuss significant differences between these two types of fields. For various backgrounds, we present the contributing instantons and perform analytical computations for the corresponding rates treating both fields nonperturbatively. (b) In addition, we also study the case with a nonstatic strong field which gives rise to the assisted dynamical mechanism. For different strong field profiles we investigate the impact on the critical combined Keldysh parameter. As an explicit example, we analytically compute the rate by employing the exact reflection points. The validity of the predictions for both mechanisms is confirmed by numerical computations.

Pair production of scalar dyons in Kerr–Newman black holes

We study the spontaneous pair production of scalar dyons in the near extremal dyonic Kerr–Newman (KN) black hole, which contains a warped AdS3 structure in the near horizon region. The leading term contribution of the pair production rate and the absorption cross section ratio are also calculated using the Hamilton–Jacobi approach and the thermal interpretation is given. In addition, the holographic dual conformal field theories (CFTs) descriptions of the pair production rate and absorption cross section ratios are analyzed both in the J-, Q- and P-pictures respectively based on the threefold dyonic KN/CFTs dualities.

Holographic Schwinger effect in a D-instanton background

The Schwinger effect in the presence of instantons is considered in this paper. Using AdS/CFT correspondence in the near horizon limit of the D3+D($-1$)-brane background, we calculate the total potential of a quark-antiquark pair in an external electric field. It is shown that instantons tend to suppress the pair creation effect and increase the critical electric field above which the pairs are produced freely without any suppression. Interestingly, no other critical electric field, common for all confining field theories, is observed here at finite temperature. However, as expected we find such a critical electric field at zero temperature. The pair production rate evaluated by the calculation of the expectation value of the circular Wilson loop also confirms this result.

Effect of a magnetic field on Schwinger mechanism in de Sitter spacetime

We investigate the effect of a constant magnetic field background on the scalar QED pair production in a four-dimensional de Sitter spacetime ($\dsf$). We have obtained the pair production rate which agrees with the known Schwinger result in the limit of Minkowski spacetime and with the Hawking radiation in de Sitter spacetime (dS) in the zero electric field limit. Our results describe how the cosmic magnetic field affects the pair production rate in cosmological setups. In addition, using the zeta function regularization scheme we have calculated the induced current and examined the effect of a magnetic field on the vacuum expectation value of the current operator. We find that, in the case of a strong electromagnetic background the current responds as $E\cdot B$, while in the infrared regime, it responds as $B/E$, which leads to a phenomenon of infrared hyperconductivity. These results of the induced current have important applications for the cosmic magnetic field evolution.

Semi-automatic engineering and tailoring of high-efficiency Bragg-reflection waveguide samples for quantum photonic applications

Semiconductor alloys of aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) exhibit strong second-order optical nonlinearities. This makes them prime candidates for the integration of devices for classical nonlinear optical frequency conversion or photon-pair production, for example, through the parametric down-conversion (PDC) process. Within this material system, Bragg-reflection waveguides (BRW) are a promising platform, but the specifics of the fabrication process and the peculiar optical properties of the alloys require careful engineering. Previously, BRW samples have been mostly derived analytically from design equations using a fixed set of aluminum concentrations. This approach limits the variety and flexibility of the device design. Here, we present a comprehensive guide to the design and analysis of advanced BRW samples and show how to automatize these tasks. Then, nonlinear optimization techniques are employed to tailor the BRW epitaxial structure towards a specific design goal. As a demonstration of our approach, we search for the optimal effective nonlinearity and mode overlap which indicate an improved conversion efficiency or PDC pair production rate. However, the methodology itself is much more versatile as any parameter related to the optical properties of the waveguide, for example the phasematching wavelength or modal dispersion, may be incorporated as design goals. Further, we use the developed tools to gain a reliable insight in the fabrication tolerances and challenges of real-world sample imperfections. One such example is the common thickness gradient along the wafer, which strongly influences the photon-pair rate and spectral properties of the PDC process. Detailed models and a better understanding of the optical properties of a realistic BRW structure are not only useful for investigating current samples, but also provide important feedback for the design and fabrication of potential future turn-key devices.

Scalar Dyon Production In Near Extremal Kerr-Newman Black Holes

The pair production of charged scalar dyons is analytically studied in near-extremal Kerr-Newman (KN) dyonic black holes. The pair production rate and its thermal interpretation are given. Moreover, the absorption cross section ratio has been compared with the two-point function of the conformal field theories (CFTs) holographically dual to the near horizon geometry, namely warped AdS3, of the near extremal Kerr-Newman black holes to verify the threefold dyonic KN/CFTs correspondence.