Pair production from an external electric field.

摘要

We solve numerically the problem of pair production from an external electric field in 1 + 1 dimensions including the quantum back-reaction from the produced pairs. We find that in the linear regime our numerical results agree perfectly with analytic calculations. In the strong field regime where tunnelling is uninhibited we determine the time it takes for the electric field to degrade due to energy transfer to the large number of pion field degrees of freedom. The problem has three time scales--the oscillation frequency of the charged quanta, the induced plasma oscillation frequency due to the production of pairs and finally the time scale for energy to be transferred from the electromagnetic field to the pion field. 4 refs., 5 figs.