Pair creation by a photon in an electric field

The process of pair creation by a photon in a constant and homogeneous electric field is investigated basing on the polarization operator in the field. The total probability of the process is found in a relatively simple form. At high energy the quasiclassical approximation is valid. The corrections to the standard quasiclassical approximation (SQA) are calculated. In the region of relatively low photon energies, where SQA is unapplicable, the new approximation is used. It is shown that in this energy interval the probability of pair creation by a photon in electric field exceeds essentially the corresponding probability in a magnetic field. This approach is valid at the photon energy much larger than the “vacuum” energy in electric field: ω?eE/m. For smaller photon energies the low energy approximation is developed. At ω?eE/m the found probability describes the absorption of soft photon by the particles created by an electric field.     

Polarization operator of a photon in a magnetic field

The polarization operator of a photon in a static uniform magnetic field has been studied at photon energies both above and below the threshold of electron–positron pair production by a photon. In the first order of the fine-structure constant α, expressions for the refractive index of a photon with a certain polarization in both low and high fields as compared to the critical field H₀ = 4.41 × 10¹³ G have been obtained. Both the purely quantum range of photon energies, where the particles of a pair are produced at the lowest Landau levels, and the region of applicability of the semiclassical approximation in the case of the population of high energy levels have been considered. A general spectral integral formula has been obtained with divergent threshold terms separated in an explicit form.     

Geodesic deviation and particle creation in curved spacetimes

A quantum mechanical picture, relating accelerated geodesic deviation to creation of massive particles via quantum tunneling in curved background spacetimes, is presented. The effect is analogous to pair production by an electric field and leads naturally to production of massive particles in de Sitter and superluminal FRW spacetimes. The probability of particle production in de Sitter space per unit volume and time is computed in a leading semiclassical approximation and shown to coincide with the previously obtained expression.     

Pair production and vacuum polarization of vector particles with electric dipole moments and anomalous magnetic moments

The matrix 8-component Dirac-like form of the P-odd equations for boson fields of spin 1 and 0 are obtained and the symmetry group of the 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 electric dipole moments and anomalous magnetic moments by an external constant and uniform electromagnetic field has been found using exact solutions. We have calculated the imaginary and real parts of the electromagnetic field Lagrangian that takes into account the vacuum polarization of vector particles. Received: 14 April 2001 / Revised version: 13 July 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

Influence of strongly magnetized plasma on photon splitting

The photon splitting γ → γγ in a strongly magnetized medium of arbitrary temperature and chemical potential is considered. In comparison with the case of a pure magnetic field, a new photon splitting channel is shown to be possible below the electron-positron pair production threshold. The partial splitting amplitudes and probabilities are calculated by taking into account the photon dispersion in a strong magnetic field and a charge-symmetric plasma. An enhancement of the photon splitting probability compared to the case of a magnetic field without plasma has been found to be possible under certain conditions.     

Optical absorptions of an exciton in a disc-like quantum dot under an electric field

An exciton in a disc-like quantum dot (QD) with the parabolic confinement, under applied electric field, is studied within the framework of the effective-mass approximation. Both the electric field and the confinement effects on the transition energy and the oscillator strength were investigated. Based on the computed energies and wave functions, the linear, the third-order nonlinear and the total optical absorption coefficients were also calculated. We found that the optical absorption coefficients with considering excitonic effects are stronger than those without considering excitonic effects and the absorption peak will move to the right side induced by the electron-hole interaction, which shows an excitonic effect blue-shift of the resonance in QDs. The applied electric field may affect either the size or the position of absorption peaks of excitons. However, the applied electric field may only affect the size of absorption peaks of an electron-hole pair without considering excitonic effects. It is very important to take excitonic effects into account when we study the optical absorption for disc-like QDs. We may observe the excitonic effect induced by the external electric field.     

Relativistic antihydrogen production

Antihydrogen has recently been produced in collisions of antiprotons with ions. While passing through the Coulomb field of a nucleus an antiproton will create an electron-positron pair. In rare cases the positron is bound by the antiproton and an antihydrogen atom produced. We calculate the production of relativistic antihydrogen atoms by bound-free pair production. The cross section is calculated in the semiclassical approximation (SCA), or equivalently in the plane wave Born approximation (PWBA) using exact Dirac-Coulomb wave functions. We compare our calculations to the equivalent photon approximation (EPA). Received: 19 December 1997 / Published online: 10 March 1998     

The pair scattering and the photoemission effect in GaAs

The photoemission effect in GaAs is calculated for photon energies up to 12 eV using a direct transition model and pseudopotential energy bands. The effect of the pair scattering in the energy distribution curves is included using a mean free path approximation and a first order perturbation treatment for the coulombic interaction producing the scattering. The absolute value of the yield function is well reproduced. A detailed discussion of the contribution from scattered and unscattered electrons to the energy distribution curves is performed and their interpretation in terms of the details of the energy bands is given.     

Photon Decays in the Radiation-Dominated Universe: Scalar Electrodynamics

The effect of the creation of an arbitrary number of massive pairs by a photon in the spatially flat model of the radiation-dominated Universe is considered. The process added-up probability is calculated within the framework of scalar quantum electrodynamics conformally related to the metric of a curved spacetime. The rate of photon decay in the radiation-dominated universe as well as the mean number of the created particles have been found. Comparison of the rate of the pair creation in the photon decays with the rate of the pair creation in the photon-photon collisions which take place in the Minkowski spacetime has been carried out. The estimates having been made show the number density of the particles created in the processes of the photon decays in the radiation-dominated Universe to be by a factor of 10³⁰ higher than the number density of the particles created from the vacuum of the free scalar field by the gravitational background.     

Emission of a photon by an electron in a radiation-dominant universe

The process by which a photon is emitted by an electron in a radiation-dominant universe is considered, under the assumption that an arbitrary number of pairs are produced from a vaccum. In a flat space this process is forbidden by the laws of conservation. The dependence of the probability and the mean number of created particles on the energy of the initial electron is investigated. In the limiting cases (initial electron with high or low energies), approximate expressions are found for the probability that a photon is emitted by an electron as well as for the total probability of the process, including production of photons and pairs from a vacuum. Approximate expressions are obtained for the mean number of particles that are produced in the course of inelastic scattering of an electron in the early Universe. Biy State Pedagogical Institute. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 9, pp. 98–102, September, 1996.     

Effect of a magnetic field on thermally stimulated ionization of impurity centers in semiconductors by submillimeter radiation

The probability of electron tunneling from a bound state into a free state in crossed ac electric and dc magnetic fields is calculated in the quasiclassical approximation. It is shown that a magnetic field decreases the electron tunneling probability. This decreases the probability of thermally activated ionization of deep impurity centers by submillimeter radiation. The logarithm of the ionization probability is a linear function of the squared amplitude of the electric field and increases rapidly with the frequency of the electric field.     

Polarized triplet production by circularly polarized photons

A process of pair production by a circularly polarized photon in the field of an unpolarized atomic electron was considered in the Weizaecker-Williams approximation. The degree of longitudinal polarization of a positron and an electron was calculated. An exclusive cross section, as well as a spectral distribution, were obtained. We estimate the accuracy of our calculations at the level of a few percent. We show the identity of the positron polarization for the considered process and for the process of pair production in the screened Coulomb field of a nucleus.     

Polarized light propagating in a magnetic field as a probe for millicharged fermions

Possible extensions of the standard model of particle physics suggest the existence of particles with small, unquantized electric charge. Photon-initiated pair production of millicharged fermions in a magnetic field would manifest itself as a vacuum magnetic (VM) dichroism. We show that laser polarization experiments searching for this effect yield, in the mass range below 0.1 eV, much stronger constraints on millicharged fermions than previous laboratory searches. VM birefringence due to virtual pair production gives a slightly better constraint for masses between 0.1 and a few eV. We comment on the possibility that the VM dichroism observed by PVLAS arises from pair production of such millicharged fermions rather than from single production of axionlike particles. Such a scenario can be confirmed or firmly excluded by a search for invisible decays of orthopositronium with a branching-fraction sensitivity of about 10(-9).     

Production of a pair of heavy particles by a polarized electron in a magnetic field

The probability that an electron in a constant uniform magnetic field will generate a pair of heavy particles is calculated, neglecting the effect of the field on their motion. It is shown that the emission of pairs leads to a preferential orientation of the electron spins in the opposite direction to the magnetic field, as in the case of synchrotron radiation.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 101–105, May, 1982.     

Concept of formation length in radiation theory

The features of electromagnetic processes are considered which connected with finite size of space region in which final particles (photon, electron–positron pair) are formed. The longitudinal dimension of the region is known as the formation length. If some external agent is acting on an electron while traveling this distance the emission process can be disrupted. There are different agents: multiple scattering of projectile, polarization of a medium, action of external fields, etc. The theory of radiation under influence of the multiple scattering, the Landau–Pomeranchuk–Migdal (LPM) effect, is presented. The probability of radiation is calculated with an accuracy up to “next to leading logarithm” and with the Coulomb corrections taken into account. The integral characteristics of bremsstrahlung are given, it is shown that the effective radiation length increases due to the LPM effect at high energy. The LPM effect for pair creation is also presented. The multiple scattering influences also on radiative corrections in a medium (and an external field too) including the anomalous magnetic moment of an electron and the polarization tensor as well as coherent scattering of a photon in a Coulomb field. The polarization of a medium alters the radiation probability in soft part of spectrum. Specific features of radiation from a target of finite thickness include: the boundary photon emission, interference effects for thin target, multi-photon radiation. The theory predictions are compared with experimental data obtained at SLAC and CERN SPS. For electron–positron colliding beams following items are discussed: the separation of coherent and incoherent mechanisms of radiation, the beam-size effect in bremsstrahlung, coherent radiation and mechanisms of electron–positron creation.     

Process ν → νγ in strong magnetic field with allowance for posironium contribution to photon dispersion

We have studied the radiative decay of neutrinos with relatively high energies E ? m _e in a strong magnetic field taking into account the effect of a bound electron-positron pair (positronium) on photon dispersion. The allowance for the positronium contribution to the polarization operator of the photon substantially modifies the dispersion relation for the photon and the amplitude of the process in the vicinity of the cyclotron resonance. It is shown that the probability of the ?? ?? ??? process considerably increases when the positronium contribution is taken into account.     

Pair production in an electric field applied for a short time

An expression is obtained for the probability of pair production in a homogeneous electric field applied for a short time and a constant inhomogeneous magnetic field when both fields have the same direction. The dependence of the probability is investigated for short and long times of application of the electric field.     

Quantum Processes beyond the Aharonov-Bohm Effect

We consider QED processes in the presence of an infinitely thin and infinitely long straight string with a magnetic flux inside it. The bremsstrahlung from an electron passing by the magnetic string and the electron-positron pair production by a single photon are reviewed. Based on the exact electron and positron solutions of the Dirac equation in the external Aharonov-Bohm potential we present matrix elements for these processes. The dependence of the resulting cross sections on energies, directions, and polarizations of the involved particles is discussed for low energies.     

Radiation from electrons in graphene in strong electric field

We study the interaction of electrons in graphene with the quantized electromagnetic field in the presence of an applied uniform electric field using the Dirac model of graphene. Electronic states are represented by exact solutions of the Dirac equation in the electric background, and amplitudes of first-order Feynman diagrams describing the interaction with the photon field are calculated for massive Dirac particles in both valleys. Photon emission probabilities from a single electron and from a many-electron system at the charge neutrality point are derived, including the angular and frequency dependence, and several limiting cases are analyzed. The pattern of photon emission at the Dirac point in a strong field is determined by an interplay between the nonperturbative creation of electron–hole pairs and spontaneous emission, allowing for the possibility of observing the Schwinger effect in measurements of the radiation emitted by pristine graphene under DC voltage.     

Effects of applied magnetic field on the infrared transitions between hydrogenic states in a corrugated quantum well

The magnetic field induced transition energies between the ground and excited states of a donor impurity in a Ga_1-xAl_xAs /Ga_1-yAl_yAs corrugated quantum well is reported. The calculations are performed by the variational method based on a two-parametric trial wave function, in the framework of the single band effective mass approximation. The effect of nonparabolicity of the conduction band is considered through the energy dependent effective mass. The effect of magnetic field on the spin-orbit interaction on the electron magnetization and the magnetic susceptibility is discussed. The diamagnetic susceptibility using Hellmann-Feynman theorem is calculated for the ground and excited states of the donor. The transition lines lie in the optical range for a strong magnetic field. The results are compared with the other existing available literature.